SUSTAINABILITY

FEATURES
Forty years on Salisbury Plain, how the
battle to save archaeology was won
At a basic level the commandant was faced with large
areas that needed rest and repair, but the broader debate
concerned the future - what could be done to prevent a
repeat of this threat to both heritage and training?
In the mid 1970s, a start was made
on compiling the Wiltshire Sites and
Monuments Record (SMR). Salisbury
Plain was a special problem, renowned
for its heritage but diffcult to access.
By 1981 the SMR was complete, but still
lacking detail for the Plain. Reports from
conservation groups indicated damage
to sites, and as County Archaeologist,
I gathered more information by
attending group meetings.
By 1982, the press took an interest,
particularly in relation to the Romano-
British settlement at Chisenbury
Warren. This unprotected site was
highly vulnerable to units hiding in
the warren then dashing forward
to ambush opposition forces. The
headline ‘tanks train on Roman village’
focused the collective mind, resulting
in a dialogue between MOD, English
Heritage and Wiltshire Council.
What emerged was intriguing. First, no
true record of archaeology on the Plain
existed. Second, although some sites
were Scheduled Ancient Monuments
(SAMs), many of the most outstanding
features were not Scheduled. Third, the
army had not been provided with a
list of SAMs or guidance on protecting
sites. MOD threw down the gauntlet
- if archaeologists would define what
was important it would do its best to
implement safeguards.
The result was a massive survey in
1985, funded by English Heritage and
subsequently by MOD. The resultant
database and mapping recorded
over 2200 sites, including around 600
prehistoric burial mounds. A bold
decision to schedule over 500 sites
was made.
The next step was to agree on
measures of protection. MOD had
for decades marked some sites with
metal star-signs, and an extension
of this technique which involved
placing a ring of signs around the
monument rather than a single star
at its centre, proved valuable. The
Surface damage caused by vehicle movement in wet conditions. © Wiltshire Council
real challenge was to protect clusters
of earthworks covering substantial
areas. These could include landscapes
with many components and the term
Archeological Site Group (ASG) was
coined. A core consideration was to
ensure that military training was not
unduly inhibited, so management
measures sought to guide units
through these zones rather than
impose exclusion. One group of
archaeological earthworks was
elevated to top status, labelled as
Important and Fragile Sites (IFSs).
They numbered seven and included
some of the best preserved and rarest
features found in the country. Only
training on foot was permitted within
them, and they are marked on the
training area map as no-go areas.
These measures were introduced in
the period 1986-1993, a challenge
particularly for the commandant
to appreciate the requirement and
agree suggested measures. These
might include not only signage but
new tracks, closing old tracks, new
fenced enclosures, plantations to
block movement, part clearance of
plantations to permit movement,
whatever was needed to fulfill the
management plans. It was in this
period that English Nature (now
Natural England) registered a vast
zone with the status of Site of Special
Scientific Interest (SSSI). Henceforth,
management plans needed to
accommodate nature conser vation.
The combination of extreme wet
weather and a huge exercise in
the winter of 1993-4 threatened
to destroy much that had been
protected and the good working
relations that had evolved. Huge
areas of grassland had been reduced
to mud; tracks degrading to a point
that even armoured vehicles avoided
them, cutting fresh routes alongside
and generate a sea of devastation,
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Sanctuary 44 • 2015