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Edge of Empire
Edge of Empire
01/08/08 12:29
As part of the process of achieving World Heritage Site status for the Antonine Wall, David Breeze published several books, including The Antonine Wall and his new book, Edge of Empire. Here he explains the process which led to the Antonine Wall becoming a World Heritage Site in July.
THE ANTONINE WALL – A WORLD HERITAGE SITE
At 15.55, local time (20.55 in the UK), on 7 July 2008, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, meeting in Quebec, unanimously approved the inscription of the Antonine Wall as a World Heritage Site, being an extension of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site. This is the last step in a long process which started over 5 years ago, when Dr Elaine Murray, the then Minister for Culture and Sport, announced the intention to propose the Antonine Wall as a WHS. We decided to nominate the Antonine Wall as part of a WHS which might encompass all the frontiers of the Roman empire. Several countries in Europe are now working towards that end. The first year or more after January 2003 was spent talking to UNESCO in Paris and colleagues in London about the practicality of such an approach.
Work on the nomination started in earnest in April 2005 when I relinquished my post as Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments to work full-time on the nomination. A steering group was established comprised of representatives of central and local government in Scotland, and this body was supported by specialists groups, in particular on mapping. The identification and definition of the monument is an important part of the process. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland undertook this task, revising their existing maps on the basis of recent excavations and additional field work. The final portfolio of 59 maps recording the Antonine Wall at different scales, delineating the frontier, the proposed World Heritage Site and the buffer zones was an essential element of the nomination. A special exercise was undertaken by Land Use Consultants to define the buffer zone. In undertaking this exercise, LUC had to formulate an approach which was suitable for this monument.
The main element of the nomination was the proposal document itself. This had to explain and justify the importance of the monument – why it should become a WHS – and state the measures undertaken to protect, conserve, monitor and present the monument to the public. This was a book in itself, 45,000 words. This was supported by a Management Plan (25,000 words) which set out in detail how the monument would be managed in the future, including 32 different actions to achieve this. Many new photographs were taken by David Henrie of Historic Scotland’s Photographic Unit for these two books.
The two books were designed by George Bowie of The House. The nomination document, the Management Plan and the portfolio of plans, together with CDs of the nomination and Management Plan, were housed in a purple box!
Four copies of the nomination were submitted to UNESCO in January 2007. There followed a desk assessment to confirm that the nomination met the WHS rules, a desk assessment of the Statement of Outstanding Universal Value, the focal point of the nomination, and a field assessment, which took place in September 2007. These reports were considered at a meeting of WHS experts in December. They followed this with a couple of questions. Then, all we had to do was wait….. until 7 July. On that day, the Antonine Wall joined over 800 other properties as World Heritage Sites. This will provide additional protection for the monument and lead to improved access and other facilities including site interpretation. It has already led to two new books on the Wall, the creation of an Antonine Wall web site: www.antoninewall.org, while a new Antonine Wall interpretation centre is planned at Glasgow University.
David J Breeze
Co-ordinator for the Antonine Wall World Heritage Site
