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Planning consideration

Scheduled monuments

A site that's legally protected because of its historical importance

Design stage
On the platform
Tags

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Synonyms
  • Ancient monuments
  • Scheduled Archaeological Sites
Legislation
No legislation added
Expected number of records
19,995
Frequency of updates
Fortnightly
Useful links
No useful links added
Technical specification
No specification added

Background information

Each planning consideration we work on passes through the stages of our design process, where we research and answer specific questions to help us collect more information.

Backlog

  • Who asked for 'Scheduled monuments' data?

    Claire, planning policy SME

  • What is the driver for the request?

    Existing planning requirement

  • Which 2024 focus area does the request support?

    • Faster local plans

Screen

  • What is the 'Scheduled monuments' consideration?

    A scheduled monument is the selection of nationally important archaeological sites. These sites can include standing stones, burial mounds, the remains of monastic buildings and more. They can be above or below ground and can consist of remains as well as structures that are still in use.

  • Is there legislation that defines 'Scheduled monuments'?

    Yes

    • What is the legislation that defines 'Scheduled monuments'?

      Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act of 1979

    • What is the specific part of the legislation that describes how a 'Scheduled monuments' gets designated?

      There are no specific parts of the legislation which talk to the different steps of designation, but section 1 encompasses the whole.

    • What is the specific part of the legislation that requires the publication of 'Scheduled monuments'?

  • Who, in law, is responsible for the planning consideration or makes decisions about 'Scheduled monuments'?

  • Which organisations do we think should publish the data?

    • Historic England

  • Is the Scheduled monuments a trigger?

    Yes

    • What needs to be done because Scheduled monuments has acted as the trigger?

      If you are the owner of a scheduled monument (or are acting on behalf of the owner) and you wish to carry out works to the monument, you will need to apply for prior written permission from the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. This is for works either above or below ground level. The procedure is known as Scheduled Monument Consent or SMC.

      Certain development works to your property may require planning permission from your local authority, but obtaining planning permission does not remove the need for Scheduled Monument Consent.

  • Is the Scheduled monuments something to consult during plan making?

    Yes

    • Provide information about when Scheduled monuments is used during plan making

      It is likely that where scheduled monuments are present, Local Plan policies will account for them. Local Plans are likely to include a policy relating to the conservation of heritage and archaeological structures, as well as setting out mitigation required.

  • Is there any Scheduled monuments data already available?

    Yes

  • Do we think the data should come from a single source?

    Yes, this data is available nationally via a single endpoint provided by Historic England.

  • Will a data standard be required?

    No

Research

  • Do we understand the lifecycle of a Scheduled monuments?

  • Do we understand how the data is created/produced?

    We expect, based on the attribution in the identified dataset, that this was produced using Ordnance Survey basemaps.

  • Where will or should the data be used?

    It is likely that this data will be used by developers/landowners/site promoters to understand the presence of scheduled monuments and what this means for development.

    • Local plans - Scheduled Monuments are referenced regularly in local plans (also under the guise of 'heritage assets'), so we think that this consideration feeds into the process of creating a local plan.

  • Who are the statutory consultees for Scheduled monuments?

    Historic England

  • Other than the statutory consultees who are the primary users of Scheduled monuments? How do we expect them to use Scheduled monuments?

    It is likely that this data will be used by developers/landowners/site promoters to understand the presence of scheduled monuments and what this means for development.

  • What are the planning needs for this data?

    It is useful to have this data on the platform, as if you are the owner of a scheduled monument (or are acting on behalf of the owner) and you wish to carry out works to the monument, you will need to apply for prior written permission from the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. This is for works either above or below ground level. The procedure is known as Scheduled Monument Consent or SMC.

    Certain development works to your property may require planning permission from your local authority, but obtaining planning permission does not remove the need for Scheduled Monument Consent.

    It is likely that where scheduled monuments are present, Local Plan policies will account for them. Local Plans are likely to include a policy relating to the conservation of heritage and archaeological structures, as well as setting out mitigation required.

  • Who are the types of users who might benefit from having access to Scheduled monuments data?

    It is likely that this data will be used by developers/landowners/site promoters to understand the presence of scheduled monuments and what this means for development.

  • What are some potential uses of Scheduled monuments data?

    It is useful to have this data on the platform, as if you are the owner of a scheduled monument (or are acting on behalf of the owner) and you wish to carry out works to the monument, you will need to apply for prior written permission from the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. This is for works either above or below ground level. The procedure is known as Scheduled Monument Consent or SMC.

    Certain development works to your property may require planning permission from your local authority, but obtaining planning permission does not remove the need for Scheduled Monument Consent.

    It is likely that where scheduled monuments are present, Local Plan policies will account for them. Local Plans are likely to include a policy relating to the conservation of heritage and archaeological structures, as well as setting out mitigation required.

  • What's the value of adding Scheduled monuments data to the platform?

    It is useful to have this data on the platform, as if you are the owner of a scheduled monument (or are acting on behalf of the owner) and you wish to carry out works to the monument, you will need to apply for prior written permission from the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. This is for works either above or below ground level. The procedure is known as Scheduled Monument Consent or SMC.

    Certain development works to your property may require planning permission from your local authority, but obtaining planning permission does not remove the need for Scheduled Monument Consent.

    It is likely that where scheduled monuments are present, Local Plan policies will account for them. Local Plans are likely to include a policy relating to the conservation of heritage and archaeological structures, as well as setting out mitigation required.

  • From what we have learnt so far are there any risks to making Scheduled monuments data available?

2 updates

  • Kieran Wint (06 September 2024)

    As per this FAQ document produced by Historic England, 'The latest datasets are uploaded to the website on a fortnightly basis.'

  • Kieran Wint (05 September 2024)

    As per some research we did, summarised in this blog on an analysis of local plans and local area requirements, we're confident that this consideration acts as an INPUT to the process of creating a local plan.

Last updated: 2025-05-20 12:13:48