Scheduled Ancient Monuments
The term ancient monument is applied to a very wide range of archaeological sites, ruins or buildings. They vary widely in time span, with the oldest known examples being caves that contain the earliest evidence of people in Wales, and the most recent being industrial remains that continued in use into the twentieth century. Some monuments are considered of national importance and are thus designated as scheduled ancient monuments under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
Bridgend County Borough has sixty scheduled ancient monuments indicating a rich and varied past, and has examples of each of the ten principal monument categories which are:
- Caves
- Prehistoric funerary and ritual sites
- Prehistoric domestic and defensive sites
- Roman sites
- Linear earthworks
- Crosses and inscribed stones
- Ecclesiastical sites and wells
- Medieval and post-medieval secular sites
- Bridges
- Industrial sites.
The aim of scheduling is to ensure the long-term preservation of a site. The Welsh Assembly Government compiles and maintains a schedule of these monuments and it is the responsibility of Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments, to ensure that any monument on the schedule has statutory protection. Scheduled Ancient Monument Consent (SMC) must be obtained from Cadw before any works are carried out to a scheduled ancient monument. Even work beneficial to the monument including carrying out archaeological excavation needs scheduled monument consent. Undertaking work without SMC is a criminal offence.
Cadw may provide some grant assistance, as it is recognised that repairing and maintaining a scheduled ancient monument can be costly. It is also possible to enter into a management agreement with Cadw in some cases. For further details please contact Cadw http://www.cadw.wales.gov.uk/
- Last Updated: 31/10/2007
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