by Dr Sandy Gerrard
Some might see it as fitting that the Nine Maidens stone alignment in Cornwall, which may have originally been linked to the stone alignment at Bancbryn in Wales, is being considered for a wind farm development. Almost everyone with an interest in heritage might have expected that Historic England (formerly English Heritage) would have opposed such a development, but they would have been very wrong. Historic England have instead, according to the Cornish Guardian, written to the planning authority “recommending that the planning application should be approved”. The reason for this unbelievably stupid decision is that they believe that the successful applicants could be asked to carry out “major works of conservation, access, presentation and management to the Nine Maidens stone row that would not only see it removed from the Heritage at Risk Register but would make this enigmatic monument once more easily accessible and in a setting that would allow a better appreciation of the monument”.
So there we have it – Historic England consider that wind farms enhance the setting of ancient monuments. This is not what they were saying a couple of years ago but now in a change of heart they are happy for the setting of nationally important ancient monuments to be trashed providing the developer contributes to the care of the very monuments that are being trashed. Complete madness on all levels and a very dangerous precedent. Any developer can now rely on Historic England’s blessing to mutilate the historic environment providing they are happy to stump up a few quid to pay for nearby conservation works. Where will this end?
Perhaps in the future we shall see a wind turbine next to every scheduled monument with a percentage of the profits being used to care for it. Certainly this action will make it much more likely for wind farm developers to see heritage not as an obstacle, but rather as a magnet. This I would suggest is a bad thing and once housing developers get to hear that Historic England will support the destruction of the historic environment in return for a promise to care for what remains, it will be open season on our heritage.
The Nine Maidens stone alignment in Cornwall might thanks to the stupidity of Historic England soon share another characteristic with the Bancbryn alignment
The Heritage Journal 
10 comments
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06/04/2015 at 10:05
Maurice Davies
Surely conservation needs to take account of the whole planet, not just little bits of it? To compensate for not building wind farms, will you be turning your lights off and going to bed an hour earlier, or do you prefer your electricity to come from climate-changing gas, or planet-polluting nuclear?
06/04/2015 at 10:08
Peter Alexander-Fitzgerald BA LLB LLM
seems like Historic England has arbitrarily removed the view to and from a scheduled monument from the list of material considerations despite reams of statutoay directions and case law to the contrary. This would put it very close to the test for reasonableness in Judicial review
06/04/2015 at 10:18
Nigel S
Maurice, that is a stick we are often beaten with. Our position has always been that yes, the big picture is what matters but that doesn’t mean every small picture is up for being destroyed. It’s a case by case situation. Some places can remain sacrosanct, surely?
In this particular case we have two further elements:
a. A wind farm company wants to make money (not save the planet, in truth) by the use of a “heritage offset bribe”. Do we really want that sort of thing to be commonplace? It will be, if it works.
b. Has Historic England a mandate to do dodgy deals on behalf of the rest of us? Where does it say so in their enabling legislation?
06/04/2015 at 18:21
Kate
I would rather see a wind farm than huge areas of good pasture turned over for solar….. we are going to be under pressure to make these decisions….
06/04/2015 at 21:27
Sandy Gerrard
Kate, I don’t think it is either wind farms or solar. What seems to happen is that one follows the other. Once an area is seen as suitable for renewable energy other forms then follow. In miniature you see this increasingly at the sides of road where you have a solar panel and a little turbine powering an illuminated sign. Both forms can I believe be seen to be contributing to the crucial mix so from a logistical point of view with each turbine that comes on line a few more acres of panels need to be added to retain the essential balance. The main point here though is that development is being supported which will damage the historic environment by the quango responsible for protecting the historic environment. Their justification is that the developers will pay for conservation work and therefore on balance it is a good thing. But where does one stop? Clearly any money that helps the historic environment is welcome, but if the price is the destruction of other parts of the same environment this is surely something that should be the subject of public scrutiny. It would be a shame if we were to lose our special places in return for a few manicured lawns and interpretation boards.
07/04/2015 at 11:29
D McGregor
Is this a bad April Fools joke?….
07/04/2015 at 12:07
janette
are they mad or have they all been paid
10/04/2015 at 23:15
Graham Hill
Concentrate on some excellent rescue archaeology in the footings then when those windmills come down the alignment will still be there. The point that I am making is that the contested archaeology/’progress’ is one unhappy compromise, but there are unseen losses which are never imagined. I field-walk and see sealed ancient deposits of Neolithic times blended into crumb. Sounds like boasting but the largest collection of Grooved Ware(Later Neolithic) pottery in Cornwall was found as decaying ‘dog biscuit’ at Clodgy Moor by this waster.
11/04/2015 at 15:11
Sandy Gerrard
Over three years after roads were cut through the stone alignment at Bancbryn the archaeological report is still awaited. Much was made at the time of the site being “preserved by record” but surely no report means that part of the site was simply destroyed. Could one ever describe the use of heavy machinery to excavate a stone alignment as “excellent rescue archaeology”? The point about the inevitable loss of archaeology to development is broadly accepted but this does not mean that efforts should not be made to protect as much as possible. Surely some places are worth protecting but this not should not be at the cost of others. Parallels with Danegeld might be apposite here.
19/04/2015 at 22:49
Wendy Joy Lindsey
What is the point of building more windfarms when the goverment are paying £ 1,000000 a week to turn them off because the grid cannot cope with the electric that is made.This was reported on the tv, and someone was interviewed about this. Surely we now have enough wind farms in this area already? What about all the concrete that has to go in the ground to surport these turpines?