'Protect not plough' our heritage, urges agency

English Heritage has launched a campaign today to encourage farmers to "protect, not plough" archaeological sites on their land.

It is hoped that the 'Ripping Up History' campaign will help save thousands of fragile archaeological remains throughout the country which are "put at risk by intensive agriculture".

Although legislation gives protection to monuments, in many cases it permits them to be ploughed, even though it can be a major cause of damage to fragile and irreplaceable archaeological remains. Today nearly 3000 nationally important scheduled monuments are being cultivated, English Heritage claim.

In launching the campaign document at the British Academy, Dr Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage, called for a "concerted effort" by the government, archaeologists and farmers to avert one of the greatest threats to Britain’s archaeological heritage.

He added: "Modern intensive ploughing has arguably done more damage in six decades than traditional agriculture did in the preceding six centuries. We are, quite literally, ripping up our history. In doing so we are also doing irreparable damage to the character and fascination of our much-loved countryside. We need a new strategy to protect threatened archaeological sites under cultivation. It must have the support of farmers and in return, must properly reward them for their good stewardship of these sites."

Farmers today pledged to work with English Heritage to investigate how more effective protection can be given to ancient sites buried beneath farmland in Britain.

NFU environment chairman John Seymour said: “We need to ensure that changes bring benefits for farmers and our heritage. We need to use language that encourages rather than undermines partnership.”

“In the majority of cases, damage that has been caused to these sites has been the result of farmers not being informed about the sites rather than as a result of any malicious intent."

The English Heritage said that since 1945 many ancient sites, including some of the oldest visible monuments in our landscape, have been destroyed or are being seriously damaged - ploughed up or degraded by increasingly powerful farm machinery and ever more intensive cultivation.

Neolithic long barrows, Roman towns and villas, Anglo-Saxon cemeteries, medieval field systems - a patchwork of our past thousands of years in the making - have all suffered and are continuing to suffer, the body said.

(GMcG)