6 C O N T E X T 1 3 0 : J U LY 2 0 1 3 English Heritage selection guides, and introductions to heritage assets Paul Stamper writes: The selection of what we now call heritage assets has always been guided by explicit criteria, notably in the various Acts which define English Heritage’s mission, and by the Principles of Selection. However, of necessity such guidance is very general: ‘Most buildings before 1740 will be listed’, for example. More detailed criteria have been produced in the past to assist in designation recommendations, notably for scheduling under the Monuments Protection Programme, which ran from the mid-1980s, but not for all asset types. Especially for buildings, precedent, rather than publicly-available guidance, tended to provide the steer. Thus, the publication of a comprehensive series of designation selection guides was a key element of the heritage protection reform programme, which began in 2003. In particular it was at the core of a move to a designation system that was fully transparent, accountable, with the means to allow our recommendations to be checked and challenged, and which drew owners and the public into the process more fully. The selection guides also help our advisers to draft designation advice, and list entries, which are fuller and richer in context and detail than in the past: explanation has supplanted bald identification.We know from feedback that our colleagues in local authorities find them useful and interesting, and that they are being used in university departments as teaching aids. The series is now complete, and available on the English Heritage website at www.english-heritage. org.uk/caring/listing/criteria-forprotection/selection-guidelines/. In all there are 44 guides: 20 on building types (a second edition in 2011 comprehensively updating the original 2009 issue); 18 on archaeological sites; four on designed landscapes; and one each on battlefields and on ships and boats. All have been written by English Heritage experts, and drafted to be authoritative, up to date, and accessible. A consistent format gives a brisk overview of current understanding of the asset type, especially how it developed through time, and applicable selection criteria. Illustrations and selective bibliographies accompany each. Under the National Heritage Protection Plan (NHPP) and by agreement with the minister, English Heritage will increasingly concentrate on thematic or area-based assessment projects, rather than primarily responsive spot-designation.While the selection guides remain an essential starting point, it will sometimes be the case that where dozens of very similar assets are being assessed, ever finergrained and more detailed guidance will be needed. A good example of where this has already been deployed is in our work on railway signal boxes, precipitated by technical advances which will see most of Network Rail’s 750 boxes become redundant over the next 10 years. Following a largely desk-based overview by John Minnis, in part facilitated by photographs provided by Network Rail (safety issues greatly limit unescorted access to boxes), detailed and specific designation criteria were The German Military Cemetery on Cannock Chase, Staffordshire. Opened in 1967, the location, with its silver birches and heather, deliberately evokes a north German heathland. It contains the remains of 5,000 German nationals, civilians as well as service personnel, who died during the two world wars.The Grade I designed landscape is on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. England’s largest turf-cut maze, at SaffronWalden (Essex), measures 35 metres in diameter. Its date is unknown, although it predates 1699 when monies were spent recutting it. Lying on The Common, this was and is a public amenity, and a scheduled monument.
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