(1485) near
Market Bosworth,
Leicestershire in England (1746) at
Culloden, Highland in Scotland on the site of the
Battle of Orewin Bridge (1282) at
Cilmeri in Wales The legislation to protect historic battlefields is relatively recent, and arose following several key incidents involving important sites e.g. the discovery in 1997 of an unprotected mass grave of soldiers who fought at the 1461
Battle of Towton and put onto the Register of Historic Battlefields under powers conferred under the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act, 1983 (as amended). This legislation did not confer a specific responsibility to create a register of battlefields, (only a register for historic parks and gardens), but a joint project between English Heritage, the National Army Museum and the Battlefields Trust in 1995 created a register. In 2011 this registered was incorporated into the National Heritage List for England, administered by Historic England. In Scotland, the Inventory of historic battlefields was introduced in 2009 and is compiled by Historic Environment Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Ministers. This is done under the Historic Environment (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2011, following on from the Scottish Historic Environment Policy (July 2009) with further guidance issued in March 2011. In England, submissions are considered by English Heritage’s Battlefields Panel which is a non-executive specialist panel that advises the organisation on policy and practice. Members include archaeologist Dr
Glenn Foard and Major General
Julian Thompson CB OBE. Even though there is no legal requirement for English Heritage to be consulted over planning applications which affect registered battlefields although they must be considered by the local planning authority. Registration of battlefields means that any proposed development on the sites and their settings a material consideration under planning legislation. Planning Policy Statement 5
Planning for the Historic Environment states that there should be a presumption in favour of the conservation of designated historic assets, and that local authorities should assess whether an application for development outweighs the "disbenefits". It also recognises that there are many historic assets that are not currently designated, and that despite that, they should still be a presumption in favour of conservation such that substantial harm to, or loss of, the battlefield should be "wholly exceptional". Some sites also receive protection under separate legislation, for example, the parts of the Battle of Maldon is part of the Coastal Protection Belt, a Special Landscape Area and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The Battle of Evesham site is subject to local plan policies which constrain development beyond its current extent. Legislation regarding
metal detecting and the
Portable Antiquities Scheme also applies to historic battlefield sites across the UK. However, because there is often little to see above ground, sites are regularly threatened by new road and residential development. The 2010
Heritage at Risk survey identifies several sites that are "at risk" including the site of the Battle of Newburn Ford which has been subject to piecemeal, peripheral development and much of the site of the
Battle of Stamford Bridge lies under modern development War cemeteries are designated separately. ==Criteria for designation==