Managing and Protecting our Historic ... - Historic Scotland

04 | Managing and Protecting our Historic Environment What is Changing?
Introduction
The Historic Environment (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill, which was
passed in Parliament on 20 January 2011, received Royal Assent on
the 23rd February and is now an Act. This education booklet has been
updated to reflect the changes introduced during the passage of the
Bill through parliament.
This booklet is a guide to the practical management and protection of
Scotland’s Historic Environment. The booklet sets out how the provisions
of the Historic Environment (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2011
(“The Act”) will improve the management of the historic environment,
by addressing specific gaps and weaknesses in the current heritage
legislation framework and by aligning it with the planning regime where
appropriate. The booklet explains the legal changes introduced by the
Act and gives an overview of the designation and consent processes
as well as providing further information and advice on the historic
environment. The booklet also outlines the roles and responsibilities of
organisations and individuals that manage change within the historic
environment.
Definition of the historic environment
Our whole environment, whether rural or
urban, on land or under water, has a historic
dimension that contributes to its quality and
character. It has been shaped by human
and natural processes over thousands of
years. This is most obvious in our built heritage:
ancient monuments; archaeological sites and
landscapes; historic buildings; townscapes;
parks; gardens and designed landscapes;
and our marine heritage, for example, in the
form of historic shipwrecks or underwater
landscapes which were once dry land.
We can see it in the patterns in our landscape –
the layout of fields and roads, and the remains
of a wide range of past human activities.
Importantly, it also includes our buildings
erected before 1919. Although the majority
of older buildings are not listed, most provide
flexible and often spacious domestic and
non-domestic accommodation. A huge
investment of money, energy and materials
went into these buildings – it would be poor
stewardship of this inheritance to neglect it.
The context or setting in which specific
historic features sit and the patterns of past
use are part of our historic environment. The
historical, artistic, literary, linguistic, and scenic
associations of places and landscapes are
some of the less tangible elements of the
historic environment. These elements make
a fundamental contribution to our sense of
place and cultural identity. [Source: Scottish
Historic Environment Policy (SHEP 2009)
paragraph 1.2 ‘The Historic Environment’].