What is a Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM)
English Heritage, advisory body to the DCMS on matters relating to Scheduled Ancient Monuments, state that 'Every corner of England holds the archaeological remains of our long and varied history - the farms and forts of our ancestors, their burial grounds and sacred places, their fields and mines. This heritage tells us about past societies. It also enriches our own quality of life, and contributes to local character and sense of place today.'
The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 is the main legislation concerning archaeology in the UK. This Act, building on legislation dating back to 1882, provides for nationally important archaeological sites to be statutorily protected as Scheduled Ancient Monuments. There are currently around 19,000 entries in the Schedule, covering 35,000 sites ranging from prehistoric standing stones and burial mounds to Roman forts and medieval villages, and include some more recent structures such as collieries and wartime pill-boxes.
The DCMS is advised by English Heritage (EH). The DCMS and EH are engaged in a joint review of all archaeological sites in England (the Monuments Protection Programme), in order to identify which of some 600,000 sites are of outstanding national importance and worthy of protection.
The scheduling of a monument means that permission - 'scheduled monument consent' - is required for works to that monument. Each year the DCMS processes, in consultation with EH, about 1,000 applications for scheduled monument consent.
What is the schedule?
'Scheduling' is shorthand for the process through which nationally important sites and monuments are given legal protection by being placed on a list, or 'schedule'. English Heritage takes the lead in identifying sites in England which should be placed on the schedule by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. A schedule has been kept since 1882 of monuments whose preservation is given priority over other land uses. The current legislation, the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, supports a formal system of Scheduled Monument Consent for any work to a designated monument.