Scheduled monuments
‘Scheduling’ is the process through which nationally important sites and monuments, mostly of archaeological interest, are placed on a list, or ‘schedule’ giving them legal protection. This is done under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. Historic England (formerly English Heritage) takes the lead in identifying sites in England which should be placed on the schedule.
Monuments considered to be of national importance have been being identified by the government since the UK’s first Act to protect heritage, the Ancient Monuments Act of 1882. The current legislation supports a formal system of Scheduled Monument Consent for any work to a designated monument.
Scheduling is the only legal protection specifically for archaeological sites. For more information regarding scheduled monuments, please visit the Historic England website.