Rescue - A Secret Society?
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 20/01/2021

With the post-war housing boom and a growth in infrastructure, particularly the development of the motorway network it became apparent by the late 1960’s that provision for archaeology was completely inadequate in the UK, particularly as it was realised just how many sites there were across the country. A group of active archaeologists joined forces and 1971 saw the establishment of RESCUE, a charitable organisation campaigning for threatened sites to be excavated.

With the establishment of county and regional units it seemed that Rescue might have fulfilled its brief, but then it took the issues raised by urban sites in the 1980’s – the Queen’s Hotel in York, Huggin Hill in the City of London and the Rose in Southwark – before archaeology was fully recognised within the planning process in 1990. And so the story continues.

Today, the structures in place for the protection of the historic environment remain vulnerable. Rescue remains independent, mainly funded by our members, often saying the things that others then agree with later. In this presentation we will discuss why archaeology still needs Rescue amongst the many voices in the archaeological landscape.

JUDE PLOUVIEZ, RESCUE; ROBIN DENSEM, RESCUE