Internationally Significant Ancient Serpent Site About To Be Butchered?

23 July 2007

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) [1] is calling urgently for a halt to the construction of a road which threatens a unique and internationally significant monument. This would provide the time needed to allow the site and its context to be fully surveyed and interpreted.

A unique processional serpentine path [2] is on the brink of being severely mutilated by construction damage. It is probably of international significance and gives its surrounding landscape sacred importance.

‘Herefordshire Council is run by experienced people. They will know how the discovery of the “Rotherwas Serpent” needs swift and responsible action [3]. It is crucial that they take a lead, and suspend construction of the road, so that a careful assessment of the value of this extraordinary monument can be made,’ said Tom Oliver, Head of Rural Policy at CPRE.

‘English Heritage must also rise to their full responsibilities: this is certainly not just a matter of fixing a concrete sticking plaster on the section of the monument which is crossed by the road. The context of the landscape, which may well have been sacred to those who built and used this monument, is crucial to its integrity and our appreciation of it in the future,’ Tom Oliver continued.

‘If the rules for evaluation and protection of the historic environment and important archaeological sites are not to be made a mockery, options must be kept open until the full scale and significance of this unique site are properly understood [4].

‘This could be Hereford’s Bronze Age equivalent of its Cathedral and Close, but with the added dimension of being unique in this country. There is now an unprecedented opportunity for Herefordshire Council and English Heritage to rise to this critical occasion. Otherwise, they will be remembered for failing to secure an outcome which respects both the monument and the wider public interest,’ Tom Oliver concluded.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. CPRE, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, is a charity which promotes the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of rural England. We advocate positive solutions for the long-term future of the countryside. Founded in 1926, we have 60,000 supporters and a branch in every county. President: Bill Bryson. Patron: Her Majesty The Queen.

2. More information can be found at the following web sites:

http://www.wyed.co.uk/ribbon/index.php

http://anthropology.net/2007/07/04/rotherwas-ribbon-a-bronze-age-site-unique-in-europe/

http://www.24dash.com/localgovernment/23721.htm

3. Dr Keith Ray, Herefordshire’s county archaeologist, has said ‘it’s a very exciting find not just for Herefordshire, and not just for the UK, but, apparently, so far unique in Europe…it has international significance.’ [source:anthropology.net]

4. Planning Policy Guidance Note 16 Archaeology and Planning is clear: Paragraph 8 states ‘Where nationally important archaeological remains, whether scheduled or not, and their settings, are affected by proposed development there should be a presumption in favour of their physical preservation.’ This is repeated in paragraph 27: ‘Where nationally important archaeological remains, whether scheduled or not, and their settings, are affected by proposed development there should be a presumption in favour of their physical preservation in situ i.e. a presumption against proposals which would involve significant alteration or cause damage, or which would have a significant impact on the setting of visible remains.’

The monument could be scheduled by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) under Section 7 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. DCMS are dependent upon English Heritage making an evaluation of the monument and a recommendation for scheduling. CPRE strongly believes that in order for this system to have the confidence of the public, work on the road should be suspended while careful consideration of the evidence is considered. Should construction continue and the evaluation be limited, the system will be seen to be lacking credibility and resistance to developments which threaten the historic environment is likely to increase greatly.

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