This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Protecting Scotland's carved stones
11/05/2005
A strategy document providing guidance for the care and
protection of carved stones has been unveiled by Tourism
Minister Patricia Ferguson.
Carved stones provide a very real link to more than 5000
years of human activity in Scotland and are an important
and significantly large proportion of the monuments and
artefacts that survive from past times. Carved stones help
to define the character of our environment and present-day
identities, both local and national.
Emphasising the cultural importance of carved stones, Ms
Ferguson said:
"Scotland's rich and varied resource of carved stones is
an important cultural asset; they are a tangible connection
to a very human element of our past. Carved stones have
enormous and largely untapped potential, particularly for
sustainable tourism and educational initiatives, but they
require active conservation.
"Effective protection of carved stones will continue to
be achieved most effectively through better understanding
of the issues involved and collective effort to address
them. I hope that, with this policy and guidance, Historic
Scotland and everyone else involved will be encouraged, and
better placed, to identify priorities and implement
strategies and action plans to respond to the needs of
individual sites and categories of our important carved
stones."
Carved Stones: Scottish Executive Policy and
Guidance, published by Historic Scotland, draws on 120 years
of their and their predecessor bodies' experience in
dealing with carved stones, and was the subject of a three
month consultation period early in 2004.
Carved stone is used as a generic term for what in
Scotland can be broadly categorised under the headings
of:
- prehistoric rock carvings
- Roman, early medieval, later medieval and
post-reformation sculpture
- architectural sculpture and fragments
- gravestones.
The strategy document concentrates on carved stones that
are still physically associated in some way with their
place of manufacture or one of their stages of use, rather
than carved stones that are now found as artefacts in
off-site museums.
The strategic and operational policy, and guidance cover
legal protection, raising awareness, conservation
strategies and practice, including intervention, research
and information, and Historic Scotland setting the example
of best practice.
To help with the implementation and application of the
policy and guidance contained in the document, Historic
Scotland has produced an agenda, strategy and action plan
for the conservation of general and specific categories of
carved stone. Historic Scotland involved key stakeholders,
including the National Committee on Carved Stones in
Scotland, in the development of the agenda, strategy and
action plan, which are available on the Agency's web
site.
Historic Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish
Executive charged with safeguarding the nation's historic
environment and is fully accountable to Scottish
Ministers.
Over 330 scheduled ancient monuments are in the direct
care of Scottish Ministers and conserved and protected on
their behalf by Historic Scotland. These include very
significant collections of sculpture of all periods and
types, as well as individual monuments. An estimated 4000
to 5000 examples of portable carved stones of all periods
are owned by and/or in the care of museums in Scotland.
Such museums, most of which are administered by local
authorities, play a significant part in caring for this
important aspect of Scotland's heritage. They also play an
invaluable role in interpreting and raising awareness of
the carved stones that are not housed in collections. A
wide range of carved stones, of all periods and types, in
private ownership is also scheduled or listed.
The type of legal protection that can be applied to a
carved stone will depend not only on the significance of
the carved stone but also on whether or not it is movable
and where it is. Both the Ancient Monuments and
Archaeological Areas Act 1979 and Planning (Listed
Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 can
be applied to the legal protection of carved stones.