Annex 1: Scheduled monuments

1. Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. Monuments range from artefact scatters of the earliest peoples to medieval churches and castles to more recent sites such as the remains of 20th-century wartime defences.

2. There are many thousands of archaeological and historical sites and places in Scotland. To be scheduled, a site must meet the definition of a monument and the criterion of national importance as set out in the 1979 Act.

3. Designating a site or place as a scheduled monument recognises its cultural significance at a national level. The cultural significance of a monument can be found in its artistic, archaeological, architectural, historic, traditional, aesthetic, scientific and/or social interest. The last three of these were added to the factors listed in the 1979 Act by the (former) Ancient Monument Board for Scotland in 1983.

4. The primary purpose of scheduling is the preservation of, and control of works on, monuments whose survival is in the national interest. The intention is to preserve as far as possible the characteristics that make a monument nationally important, and to pass these on to future generations.

5. Scheduled monument consent is required for any works that would demolish, destroy, damage, remove, repair, alter or add to a monument, or to carry out any flooding or tipping on a scheduled monument. Metal and mineral detecting consent (previously referred to as Section 42 Consent) is also required to use any device that can detect metals or minerals at a protected place (a scheduled monument or monument brought into the care of Scottish Ministers under the 1979 Act).

6. It is a criminal offence to cause damage to or carry out works to a scheduled monument without scheduled monument consent. It is also an offence to detect metals or minerals at a protected place or subsequently remove artefacts, without metal and mineral detecting consent.

7. A scheduled monument is a monument which is included in the Schedule (Section 1(11) of the 1979Act). The definition of a monument is broad. It covers any site comprising any thing, or group of things, that evidences previous human activity. The Act specifically refers to buildings, structures, works, caves and excavations, as well as any remains of these or machinery attached to them. It also covers vehicles, vessels, aircraft and other moveable structures, or parts of them.

8. The site of a monument includes not only the land in or on which it is situated but also any land comprising or adjoining it which is considered to be essential for the monument’s support and preservation (Section 61(9) of the 1979 Act).

9. The law prevents dwelling houses and places of worship in use from being designated as scheduled monuments. The land beneath them can be scheduled to recognise nationally important archaeological remains.

10. A scheduled monument record consists of a written description of the monument, its location, the extent of the scheduled area and any exclusions, and a map depicting the scheduled area. The legal part of the scheduled monument record is the description and map.

11. The format of the record has changed over time. Earlier records have very brief descriptions, and the map will not be to current standards. Recent records have fuller descriptions and a digitally created map showing the scheduled area at an appropriate scale.

12. We schedule monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance below. This guidance is a framework for making decisions about scheduling. Monuments are assessed on their own merits and individual decisions are made in each case.

13. We consider the degree to which a site survives when assessing it for scheduling. A monument may have both upstanding features and buried archaeological deposits, may be evidenced only through cropmarks visible on aerial photographs, or may simply consist of a scatter of artefacts. However, the present condition of what does survive is not a factor when deciding if a monument is of national importance.

14. We consider how rare a monument type is. Some types of monument are so rare that all surviving examples that have some remains will be of national importance. For more common monument types, a selection may be made of the best examples of the monument type.

15. When considering rarity, we take account of the distribution of particular types of monument where relevant. A monument that is rare in one area of Scotland may be of national importance, but one of similar quality may not be nationally important in another area where such sites are more common.

16. When assessing a monument for scheduling, we consider whether its cultural significance is of national importance. We examine its cultural significance under the following headings.

• Intrinsic characteristics – how the physical remains of a site or place contribute to our knowledge of the past

• Contextual characteristics – how a site or place relates to its surroundings and/or to our existing knowledge of the past

•  Associative characteristics – how a site or place relates to people, practices, events and/or historic and social movements

17. The national importance of a monument is demonstrated in one or more of the following ways.

a) It contributes significantly to our understanding or appreciation of the past, or has the potential to do so. It may do so in itself, or as part of a monument type, or as a geographical group of related monuments.

b) It retains structural, architectural, decorative or other physical remains to the extent that it makes a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the past. The remains can be upstanding fabric, evidence of buried archaeological structures and deposits, scatters of artefacts or a combination of these.

c) It is a rare example of a monument type when assessed against current knowledge of Scotland’s history, archaeology and/or architecture, and of the region in which the monument is found.

d) It is a particularly representative example of a monument type when assessed against knowledge of Scotland’s history, archaeology and/or architecture and of the region in which the monument is found.

e) It has research potential which could significantly contribute to our understanding or appreciation of the past.

f) It makes a significant contribution to the landscape and/or our understanding of the historic landscape. This may include the relationship of the monument to other monuments or natural features in the landscape, and/or the significance of its setting in understanding the monument or the monument type.

g) It has significant associations with historical, traditional, social or artistic figures, events, movements and/or practices that are of national importance.