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architectural, historic, artistic, traditional, and archaeological ‘interest’ of heritage assets, and the ‘character’ that is derived from each. However, the term ‘significance’, as defined
in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), encompasses all of the
different ‘interests’ that might be
grounds for designating a heritage asset
and its ‘character’ so that it may be
protected.
Planners generally see ‘conservation’
as a process for protecting a designated heritage asset in a way that always
‘sustains’ and sometimes ‘enhances’ its character and significance. However,
some legislation refers more commonly to ‘preservation’ which is generally interpreted by the courts as ‘preserving from harm’ an asset’s significance and/or its fabric.
In the rarest of cases, preserving the most sensitive and important buildings or sites may
prevent any changes from occurring. However, it is generally accepted that the vast majority of our heritage assets are capable of being sensitively adapted to a greater or lesser extent without harming their significance in order to
there are more than 400,000 designated heritage assets
facilitate their optimum viable use.
It is really to this end that in 1882 the
government first introduced ‘The List’ along with new powers of protection for ancient monuments. This list and its powers were expanded after WWII to identify which bomb-damaged buildings should be protected from demolition. This pioneering survey, then under the Ministry of Housing
and Local Government, took nearly 25 years and protected ~120,000 assets which were mostly medieval churches, country houses, and pre-1750 buildings.
The content of these first list entries was quite basic as they were often drawn up without
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