24 HM Deputy Editor David Prudames headed to London to report on the launch of this new English Heritage campaign.
English Heritage has today, July 25, launched a campaign to protect thousands of fragile archaeological remains from destruction at the hands of intensive agriculture and ploughing.
From Neolithic barrows to Roman villas and Anglo-Saxon cemetries, since 1945 thousands of ancient monuments have been irreperably damaged or destroyed by the cultivation of land.
Although legislation protects these sites from most threats, it does allow them to be cultivated. Today nearly 3000 nationally important Scheduled Ancient Monuments are under the plough.
Entitled Ripping Up History, the campaign calls on the Government to overhaul current legislation so sites at risk can be assessed individually and a plan for their protection drawn up accordingly. It also seeks a greater emphasis on protecting archaeology in agricultural schemes that reward farmers who care for the landscape and environment.
"Modern intensive ploughing has arguably done more damage in six decades than traditional agriculture did in the preceding six centuries," explained Dr Simon Thurley, English Heritage Chief Executive.
"We need a new strategy to protect threatened archaeological sites under cultivation. It must have the support of farmers and in return, must properly reward them for their good stewardship of these sites."
Dr Thurley made it clear that in no way is his organisation blaming farmers for the damage. "Nobody thinks that farmers wilfully destroy sites for the sake of it," added EH Head of Rural and Environmental Policy, Steve Trow.
The campaign coincides with a DCMS review of the way heritage is protected in this country. At the same time, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is looking into how it can improve its agri-environment schemes, which reward farmers who take environmental care of their land.
It is also hoped that the EU's Common Agricultural Policy proposals to 'de-couple' farming subsidies from intensive production will also result in a greater forcus on care for ancient sites.
The campaign has been welcomed by the National Farmers Union. But, speaking at the launch the NFU's Andrew Clark called for greater communication between archaeologists and the agricultural industry, explaining that in many cases farmers were unaware of historic sites on their land.
"The issue here," he said, "is about building on the pride our farmers feel about their farms and their stewardship of the countryside."
Dr Francis Pryor MBE, President of the Council for British Archaeology and himself a farmer also spoke out in support of the campaign.
Describing the Ministry of Defence Salisbury Plain training ground as Britain's most significant prehistoric landscape, Dr Pryor said: "that landscape has been hammered by Chieftain tanks for 50 years, but the effect is, despite the activity taking place on it, that it's vastly better preserved than the land that's been ploughed around it."
"We cannot go on standing by as thousands of irreplaceable ancient sites are progressively destroyed by ploughing, encouraged by Common Agricultural Policy grants. Farmers have only been doing what the system encourages and allows.
"We urgently call on DEFRA to take the golden opportunity offered by agri-environment reform to give all farmers the information and financial incentives they need to conserve our archaeological heritage – while it is still there."
