Moated Sites (Hansard, 30 November 1993)

§ Sir Wyn Roberts

Responsibility for the subject of the questions has been delegated to Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments Executive Agency under its chief executive, John Carr. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Mr. E. A. J. Carr to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 30 November 1993:

Moated Sites of Archaeological Interest in Wales 466W The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your two recent Parliamentary Questions about moated sites of archaeological interest in Wales. The Secretary of State's policy on archaeological remains on land and how they should be preserved or recorded is set out in Planning Policy Guidance 16 (Wales): Archaeology and Planning a copy of which is in the Library of the House. As the guidance makes clear, archaeological remains are a finite, non-renewable resource which in many cases are vulnerable to damage and destruction. Accordingly, to protect vulnerable moated sites the Agency has completed a scheduling enhancement exercise of all known sites in Wales. 110 such sites have been evaluated, of which 65 are scheduled as monuments of national importance under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. Details of both the scheduled and unscheduled sites in Wales are contained in the Sites and Monuments Records held by the four regional Archaeological Trusts in Wales. Insofar as preservation is concerned Cadw's Field Monument Wardens keep the condition of these important monuments under close review. While scheduled monument consent is required for works to monuments of national importance the Agency's records do not identify such activity by monument type. Works at unscheduled monuments do not require consent from the Secretary of State and consequently the Agency has no information in respect of such sites.