A 1-day event aimed at people involved in the planning system within World Heritage Sites, including Planners, Conservation Officers, WHS Co-ordinators and Councillors.

The event, which is being held at two alternative venues, has been organised jointly by the Local Authority World Heritage Forum (LAWHF), English Heritage and ICOMOS-UK.

The Telford event will be chaired by Gillian Clarke, Secretary of LAWHF and the Newcastle upon Tyne event by Susan Denyer, Secretary of ICOMOS-UK.

For more information please e-mail jbl.telshrops@blueyonder.co.uk or telephone Jonathan Lloyd on 01952 587615

Download the programme and booking form

 Is there such a thing as a global conservation philosophy for cultural heritage? Should there be? Or should cultural heritage conservation reflect cultural diversity? The Conference will consider these thoughts through exploring conjunctions and differences between conservation philosophies and principles in UK, India and China.   

Agra Fort, India, photo: M & G Therin-Weise

These aspirations were translated into an Australian national framework by the Burra Charter, the Australian National Charter, 1979. The idea of universality was strengthened by the 1972 World Heritage Convention with its concept of outstanding universal value for properties that might be seen part of the ‘world heritage of mankind as a whole’, which thus translated universal ideas to places perceived to be of universal value.   

In recent years the China Principles, 2002, and the INTACH Charter for the Conservation of Unprotected Architectural Heritage and Sites in India, 2004, have developed conservation guidance related to specific cultural traditions. Do these still somehow reflect the idea of an over-arching conservation philosophy that can be seen to be global? Or are they stand alone documents whose similarities merely reflect the interchange of ideas between east and west?  We considered these thoughts through exploring conjunctions and differences between conservation philosophies and principles in UK, India and China.  

The Conference included three keynote speeches from internationally prominent practitioners in China, India and UK. They explored conjunctions and differences between conservation philosophies and principles in China, India and UK and discussed international conservation instruments and guidelines including the China Principles, INTACH Charter and English Heritage Conservation Principles and a possible UK Charter.  

Keynote speakers:

• Professor Guo Zhan (China), Director, World Heritage Expert Committee of China; Vice President, ICOMOS International: Universality and Individuality in the Concept of Conservation.  

• Professor A. G. Krishna Menon (India), Convenor, Delhi Chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH): The evolving conservation movement in India: its relevance in a globalising world.  

• Paul Drury (UK), The Paul Drury Partnership: Culture, heritage values and places – relating the abstract to the concrete.  

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The other distinguished speakers at the conference included:

Xue-cai Yu,  Department of tourism, Southeast University, Nanjing, CHINA

Namiko Yamauchi, Japan Cultural Heritage Consultancy, Tokyo, JAPAN

Souad Sassi, University of Mentouri, Constantine, ALGERIA

Biumol Tom, Assistant Professor, College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, INDIA

Vikas Dilawari, Head of Conservation, Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture and Environment Studies, Mumbai, INDIA

Jeff West, ICOMOS-UK Executive Committee, UK

Keith Emerick, Inspector of Ancient Monuments, English Heritage, UK

Louise Cooke, Independent Consultant, UK

Sarah Wolferstan, Consultant, Institute of Archaeology, University College London, UK

Susan Denyer, Secretary, ICOMOS-UK; World Heritage Advisor, ICOMOS, London, UK

Their presentations addressed the following themes:  

• Are coincidences in conservation ideas between east and west the result of direct contact and exchange of ideas between conservation professionals in the 19th and 20th centuries?  

• Are coincidences of outcome influenced more by changing overarching philosophies – the westernisation of the east (colonialism) and the easternisation of the west?  

• Is there an over-arching conservation philosophy which brings east and west together at a global level and within which regional and national principles, policies and practice can be developed, or are there fundamental dichotomies and irreconcilable differences?  

• At a practical level, is there potential for international agreement on methods of, and standards for, conservation interventions at cultural heritage sites?    

York Minster, UK

The conference also included a tour of York Minster led by Andrew Arrol, York Minster’s Surveyor of the Fabric,

An optional site visit to Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal World Heritage Site took place on Saturday 5th June. 

For more information please contact:

Camilla Massara, Events Co-ordinator, ICOMOS-UK: camillamassara@icomos-uk.org  

On Thursday 10th December 2009 at 6.30pm in The Gallery, 77 Cowcross Street, London, EC1M 6EL

We would like to invite you to this year’s ICOMOS-UK Christmas Lecture and Wine Reception, in association with The Royal Institution of Great Britain:

The lecture will be given by Professor Clive Ruggles, Chair of the International Astronomical Union ’s Working Group on Astronomy and World Heritage.

In today’s brightly lit world it is all too easy to forget just how overwhelming the dark night sky would have been to human societies in the past—a prominent part of the observed world that was impossible to ignore.

The objects and cycles seen there were vital to people striving to make sense of the world within which they dwelt and to keep their actions in harmony with the cosmos as they perceived it.

The Thirteen Towers, Peru

For the archaeoastronomer, certain ancient monuments provide tantalising glimpses of long lost beliefs and practices relating to the sky, although they have to be interpreted with considerable caution.

In this lecture Clive Ruggles, Emeritus Professor of Archaeoastronomy at the University of Leicester, will describe some major new discoveries made in recent years, focusing on his own ongoing work in Peru, Polynesia, and prehistoric Europe.

Clive is Chair of the International Astronomical Union’s Working Group on Astronomy and World Heritage, which is working with UNESCO and ICOMOS to help identify, protect and preserve the most outstanding manifestations of global cultural heritage relating to the sky. Clive is also President of the Prehistoric Society, and President of IAU Commission 41 (History of Astronomy).  His books include Skywatching in the Ancient World: New Perspectives in Cultural Astronomy, edited with Gary Urton (Colorado, 2007), Ancient Astronomy: An Encyclopedia of Cosmologies and Myth (ABC-CLIO, 2005), and Astronomy in Prehistoric Britain and Ireland (Yale UP, 1999).

Admission (including wine and mince pies after the lecture) is £15 for ICOMOS-UK or The Royal institution of Great Britain members.
Admission for non-members is £18 and for students it is £10.

We do hope you will join us on the 10th December, 

For more information and a booking form please contact:

Camilla Massara
Events Co-ordinator
International Council on Monuments & Sites UK

Tel 020 7566 0031
E-mail: camillamassara@icomos-uk.org

Phoenix Park Historic Landscape

ICOMOS Ireland and ICOMOS-UK successfully organised the first of a series of annual meetings between Ireland and the UK. The main theme this year was “Cultural Landscapes”. The presentations explored new landscape initiatives in line with the aims of the ELC and the meeting was a great chance for members to network and share their views through workshops and social events.

It was also be an opportunity to hear about, and build on, the outcomes of the preceding “Heritage Council 2009 Irish Landscape Conference” that took place on 14th-16th October 2009 in Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland. This major conference looked at how effective current strategic and legislative provisions are in securing sustainable development of landscapes and in providing effective landscape planning, management, and conservation within the framework of the ELC.

Programme Details:

FRIDAY 16TH OCTOBER
6.30-8pm: Drinks reception at the Irish Architectural Archive, Dublin

SATURDAY 17TH OCTOBER –  10am-5pm, Dublin Castle
10.00-10.10:  Introduction
10.10-10.30: Prof. Gabriel Cooney, Head of Archaeology, UCD [ICOMOS Ireland]
Overview/summary of the “Heritage Council 2009 Irish Landscape Conference” issues: strategic initiatives for identifying and sustaining landscapes and recommendations for the way forward.

10.30-11.00: Willy Cumming, National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, & Louise Harrington, ICOMOS Ireland Cultural Landscape Subcommittee [ICOMOS Ireland]
Summary of new and recent initiatives to link culture, nature and people in landscapes in Ireland.

11.00-11.20: Paul Walshe, Chair ICOMOS-UK Cultural Landscapes & Historic Gardens Committee [ICOMOS-UK]
Summary of new and recent initiatives to link culture, nature and people in landscapes in the UK.

 11.00-11.20 Tea/Coffee

11.20 -11.40: Mike Clarke, Lake District World Heritage Project [ICOMOS-UK]
Lake District World Heritage Project: Social and Economic Impact Research

11.40 -12.00: [ICOMOS-UK] Speaker tbc
Historic Urban landscapes

 12.00-12.20: Cathy Daly, Dublin Institute of Technology [ICOMOS Ireland]
Measuring Climate Change Impacts in Cultural Landscapes

12.20-12.50: Discussion

12.50-14.00: Lunch

14.20-16.00: Workshops in three groups on identified themes, such as:
 - Defining historic urban landscapes
-  How do we develop an evidence base for cultural attributes of landscapes?
-  Promoting landscape and sense of place

16.00-16.20: Tea/Coffee

16.20-17.00: General discussion:
-  Feedback from discussion groups
-  Management issues
-  How ICOMOS Ireland and ICOMOS-UK might work together in the area of cultural landscapes

SUNDAY 18TH OCTOBER -  9.30am-5pm, Site Visits:

- Phoenix Park historic landscape, Dublin. Led by John McCullen, Superintendent of Phoenix Park

- Brú na Bóinne World Heritage site. Led by Claire Tuffy,  Visitor Centre Manager

For more information and bookings please contact: 

Camilla Massara
Events Co-ordinator
ICOMOS-UK

Tel: 0207 566 0031

E-mail: camillamassara@icomos-uk.org

3rd-5th July 2009

at St Fagans National History Museum (near Cardiff)
Part of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales

The 2009 ICOMOS-UK Summer meeting and AGM took place at St Fagans National History Museum, south Wales, in collaboration with Eurwyn Wiliam, our Vice President for Wales, former Director of St Fagans, Deputy Director General of National Museum Wales and latterly Keeper Emeritus, National Museum Wales.

The ‘first generation’ open air museums were set up in Scandinavia at the end of the 19th century. Over the next 80 years many others followed in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Eastern Europe and North America.

Set up to highlight the value of regional buildings which contribute so much to our national identity at a time when many vernacular buildings were becoming vulnerable to destruction or radical change, they became the repositories of ‘unspoilt’ structures which could be read as social documents, particularly of rural life before the industrial era.

The meeting included visits to the museum’s buildings, a concert in its painted, mediaeval church and a seminar discussing the vision, extraordinary diversity and benefits of open-air museums in Europe.

Programme:

Friday 3rd July:

5.30 – 6.30 Drinks Reception at St Fagans

6.30 – 8.00 Informal Concert at recreated mediaeval church of
St. Teilo’s from Pontardulais, West Glamorgan

8.30 – 9.30 Supper at Iolo Morganwg restaurant, St Fagans

Saturday 4th July:

Seminar: Open-Air Museums and Society,
(Committee Room, St Fagans)

10.00 – 10.30 Coffee

10.30 – 10.40 Introduction and welcome

10.40 – 11.00 Dr Eurwyn Wiliam, Keeper Emeritus, National
Museum Wales: Open-air museums in Europe: a visionary idea

11.00 – 11.20 Gerallt Nash, Senior Curator, St Fagans National History Museum: Presenting recent history at St Fagans

11.20 – 12.00 Richard Suggett, Manager of the Emergency Building Recording Team, Royal Commission for Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales: Searching for the earliest houses in Wales

12.00 – 12.20 Dr Thomas Bloch Ravn, Director of Den Gamle By, Denmark’s National open air museum, Chair of the Association of Open-Air Museums: Open-air museums and society

12.20 – 12.45 Discussion

12.45 – 1.45 Sandwich Lunch Iolo Morganwg restaurant

1.45 – 4.15 Guided visit to St Fagans National History Museum

5.00 – 6.00 ICOMOS-UK AGM in the Committee Room (The Annual General Meeting is open to all members and their guests)

6.00 – 7.00 Optional Supper

Sunday 5th July:

Tour to the landscape of the Blaenavon World Heritage site

ICOMOS-UK visit to Blaenavon landscape

Download the flyer and booking form

For more information please contact:
Camilla Massara
Events Co-ordinator
ICOMOS-UK
Tel: 020 7566 0031
e-mail: camillamassara@icomos-uk.org

This event was organised in collaboration with Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales

Maritime Greenwich World Heritage site

In celebration of 2009 “International Sites and Monuments Day”

WORLD HERITAGE AND SCIENCE

Some of the presentations are now available online – see below.

One Day Workshop 7th May 2009, 10am-4pm

Venue: The Museum of the Order of St John
St John’s Gate, Clerkenwell, London EC1M 4DA   

The history of the development of science and its application through technology is as important as any other part of our heritage to an understanding of the nature of modern human existence.

Many scientific achievements such as agriculture and industrialisation have been recognised on the World Heritage List, while other areas relating to scientific knowledge are under-represented, particularly the natural sciences (physical sciences including astronomy, chemistry, and geology, and biological sciences).

A distinguished panel of speakers explored these issues and highlight the wealth of associations between milestones in scientific thought and World Heritage and Tentative list sites in the UK.

The Programme included:

Prof. Alec Boksenberg, Chair UK UNESCO: What are the key scientific ideas we should be capturing?

Prof. Frank James, Chair of Science & Technology Network, Royal Institution: Understanding the development of ideas through physical evidence

Susan Denyer, World Heritage Advisor, ICOMOS & Secretary ICOMOS-UK: Acknowledging scientific ideas associated with World Heritage Sites

James Simpson, Partner, Simpson & Brown Architects:
Edinburgh and the Scottish enlightenment

Prof. David Mabberley, Keeper of the Herbarium, Library, Art & Archives, Kew: Kew Gardens and the evolution of plant classification

Prof. Adrian Phillips, former Chair of IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas: Landscapes that reflect Darwin’s evolutionary ideas

Prof. Hugh Torrens, Emeritus Professor of History of Science and Technology, Keele University: Dorset & East Devon Coast, Giant’s Causeway and the History of Geological Science

Prof. Ian Wood, Professor of Early Medieval History, University of Leeds:
Monkwearmouth & Jarrow and the early scientific ideas of the venerable Bede

Dr Rebekah Higgitt, Curator of Science & Technology, National Maritime Museum: Greenwich as a centre for the development of horological/ astronomical thinking

Contact:
Camilla Massara
Events Co-ordinator
ICOMOS-UK
Tel: 0207 566 0031
camillamassara@icomos-uk.org
 

This event was organised in collaboration with The Museum of the Order of St John

ICOMOS-UK Summer Conference delegates on Todd Crag, Lake District

Selected Summary Proceedings of the ICOMOS-UK 2008 Summer Conference are now online.

The conference was organised in collaboration with the University of Cumbria and took place on 12-14 June 2008 at its Ambleside Campus in the Lake District. The packed conference programme showcased speakers from across the UK and Europe, with a particular focus on cultural landscape World Heritage sites.

The persistent themes were how cultural and natural environments can be integrated in landscape management; the importance of educating local communities, especially young people in and about their landscapes; sustainable infrastructures and sustainable methods; the importance of a spirit of place or terroir in making one landscape, its produce and people, distinct from another; the challenges posed by government agendas and the use of international guidelines such as the European Landscape Convention and World Heritage Convention in protecting the integrity of cultural landscapes; and how landscape encompasses both tangible and intangible qualities, past and present.

If ever there was a conference which allowed delegates to ‘live’ its themes, it was this one. The peaceful and breath-taking environment of Ambleside was a constant reminder of the human yearning for discovering a sense of place. After the formal proceedings over two days, all delegates were invited to sign up to an afternoon guided walk on the Friday (13 June) (Rydall Hall followed by a circuit of Rydal Water; Low and High Sweden Bridge); Todd Crag) and a day’s excursion on Saturday (14 June) with options to visit a number of sites in the Lake District (Evolution of the Great Langdale landscape; Aira Force and Lyulphs Tower, Ullswater; Tarn Hows and Monk Coniston; Vernacular Buildings in Troutbeck; Villa architecture in the Lake District 1770 – 1900; Hill farming and land management at
Glencoyne Farm, Ullswater).

Prehistoric rock art on a boulder, Great Langdale Valley, Lake District

The close relationship between people and their landscape being part of the continuity of ‘place’ was most evident in the passion with which our guides led groups of delegates over Fells, in the valleys, around historic buildings and around the Lakes.

On behalf of the conference, we thank all the guides for leaving us with such a refreshing impression of the history and nature of the Lake District.

Some will remember the conference for the picturesque scenery and walks, some for the new information they gleaned from listening to others, others still, from the many opportunities afforded by meeting over lunch, tea and dinner, or while on a tour. After the evening buffet on Thursday 12 June, delegates who attended the conference dinner were treated to a short but highly-charged performance (a mini ceilidh) of Lake District folk music by local band, Striding Edge, including traditional clog dancing: a true demonstration of how place, landscape, and culture function as one. Listen to traditional Lakeland music by Striding Edge

Selected Summary Proceedings of Cultural Landscape Management

Grave-stone, Southampton Old Cemetery, photo: Tom Goskar

Our Sacred Landscapes was an evening discussion event organised by ICOMOS-UK, the first in a new series called Conversations. It took place on 23 April 2008 at the School of Jewellery, Birmingham City University.

The panel of three speakers, Harbinder Singh (Anglo-Sikh Heritage Trail), Elizabeth Perkins (Birmingham Conservation Trust) and Dr Richard Gale (University of Birmingham) spoke on various themes relating to where religious heritage can be found in our built landscapes and there was a particular focus on Birmingham. This was followed by conversation between the panel and the audience and addressed themes such as:

• How do sacred acts and religious beliefs impact on our built heritage?
• Where can we find the buildings and landscapes, big and small, of Britain’s diverse religious cultures?

Read the Review of Our Sacred Landscapes

The event formed the UK contribution to International Sites and Monuments Day 2008, on the theme ‘Religious Heritage and Sacred Places’.

Conversations is a new series of events which explores different aspects of how past and present cultural activities influence and change our historic surroundings. The events aim to reveal the importance of the interactions between tangible and intangible heritage and the next event is planned on the theme of Sporting Heritage in the Landscape, followed by another on the relationship between music and poetry and place.

Stone mason, photo: Steve Brace

Action on Skills Training and Education for the Historic Environment was an ICOMOS-UK organised conference which took place at the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment in London on 29-30 April 2008.

The conference was also the venue for launching the the NHTG (National Heritage Training Group) research reports into the ‘Built Heritage Sector Professionals’ and the ‘Traditional Building Craft Skills – England 2008’.

The aims of the conference was to bring together craftspeople, building professionals, policy-makers, educationalists, trainers, students and trainees to raise the profile and status of skills training, highlight the need to link the development of historic environment training and skills to the wider Government agendas on sustainability and promote the social and economic benefits that heritage skills can deliver through informed conservation, repair and maintenance.

The Summary Proceedings comprise brief bullet points on each paper and each discussion which took place. These were reported by ICOMOS-UK Member Paul Simons.

Read Action on Skills Training and Education for the Historic Environment