Conservation Bulletin 70 | PDF - English Heritage

COMMUNITIES FIGHTING BACK
in a 4x4 quite quickly – but I am not always
at home.The truth is, it is almost impossible to
police or catch the culprits unless I decide to
camouflage myself and lie in wait in the
brambles waiting for weeks on end!
If you own anything from a scheduled ancient
monument to a Grade I-listed building you are
potentially a victim of heritage crime – but individual
landowners often feel isolated in their
attempts to tackle crime on their land. Whether
support is forthcoming can be as much a postcode
lottery as health provision. For many it is simply a
case of being left to get on with it – manage the
heritage and deal with crime.
In North Wiltshire, John Tremayne has been fortunate
to win support from the local authority –
but the difficulty of policing and managing a
sensitive site strike a familiar chord:
Ever since I took over the running of our land
in 1996, off-roaders have been rampaging along
the section of the Fosseway which runs just
inside our boundary.The focus film in our case
is the damage caused at the point where the
Fosseway crosses the river Avon. This is the
site of a Roman encampment and a protected
monument.
Instead of using the bridge, which is wide and
strong enough to carry the weight of a tractor, the
off-roaders found greater joy in fording the river,
damaging the river banks and breaking down
fences and gates in order to gain access to the
adjoining land.
Fences were rebuilt and stone barricades erected
by the Council, only to be torn down again.
Because of the remoteness of the site it was, says
Mr Tremayne, very difficult to police and to catch
the offenders:
Eventually a permanent closure order for vehicles
– other than motor cycles – was obtained
and Wiltshire Council took the lead in installing
much stronger gates and fencing to prevent
the off-roaders gaining access to the Fosseway
and the scheduled monument. All this terrible
devastation was caused to our heritage site by
mindless individuals who clearly could not care
a fig as long as they were enjoying themselves.
There has also, eventually, been a positive outcome
for Guy Neville at West Malling, in Kent, where
co-operation between police, leisure-user groups
and the Kent Downs AONB have helped the estate
reduce damage caused by trial bikes, mountain
bikes and mud boarders to early medieval and
post-medieval earth banks defining both the parish
boundary and the park pale.As he says:
For us it has been about taking advantage of
funding when it is available. Getting the local
police involved wherever possible, allowing
more people to walk in the woods which provides
some degree of presence – but no one
thing will do it – it is a constant battle – so we
use whatever resources we can.
Damage caused by off-road bikes to the ramparts of a privately owned Iron Age
hillfort in Wiltshire. © Mark Harrison
The remote nature of so much of the heritage is
a key component, and makes it easier for the
criminals to prosper. John Giffard, another CLA
Issue 70: Summer 2013 | Conservation bulletin | 31