24.01.05
World Heritage Site bid sent off to Paris for decision
Cornwall and West Devon's World Heritage Site Bid has
today been officially endorsed and signed by Culture Secretary, Tessa
Jowell, before being sent off to UNESCO's (United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation) headquarters in Paris to be assessed.
The Bid, consisting of the Nomination Document stating
why certain areas should get World Heritage Site Status, and the Management
Plan detailing how such sites would be managed will be assessed by expert
advisers to the World Heritage Committee over the next 12 months. The
final decision will be made by the Committee at its annual meeting in
the summer of 2006. Cornwall and West Devon supplied much of the western
world's tin and copper for substantial periods over the last 4,000 years
and for a time during the 18th and 19th century the area was the world's
greatest producer of tin and copper. It contributed substantially to Britain's
industrial revolution and influenced mining technology and industrialisation
throughout the world. Tessa Jowell MP, said: "This is exciting news
for Cornwall and Devon and I am delighted to submit this nomination for
its famous mining industry landscape to be chosen for World Heritage Site
status.
"This unique industrial and cultural landscape survives
as a tribute to one of the most rapid periods of economic, industrial
and social development the UK has known. Its contribution to British industrialisation
was matched by its influence on the development of mining and engineering
culture across the rest of the UK and overseas.
"World Heritage Sites are usually associated with
cultural landmarks like the Great Wall of China or outstanding natural
landscapes like the Grand Canyon National Park. But industrial landscapes,
such as the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape also have a vital
role to play in helping to unlock, for current and future generations,
the heritage values, knowledge and history upon which civilisations are
based.
"Should this nomination be approved next year by the
World Heritage Committee, it will bring international recognition for
Cornwall and West Devon's important industrial heritage and attract even
more visitors to a region already renowned for its exceptional natural
beauty. I congratulate the bid team on their work and wish them all success
in their efforts."
Deborah Boden, World Heritage Site Co-ordinator said: "We are delighted that the Secretary of State is submitting the Cornwall
and West Devon Mining Landscape for inclusion on UNESCO's World Heritage
list. Achievement of World Heritage Site status will bring international
recognition of the heritage value of this landscape, and the wider social
and cultural achievements of the people engaged in the industry. The hard
rock miners and engineers of our region developed a distinctive and technologically
advanced method of deep mining which they transported around the world.
Much of this legacy endures, both in Cornwall and West Devon and in places
as far away as Australia, South America and South Africa.
"World Heritage Site status will also enable us to
enhance the role of heritage in the well-being of contemporary communities.
It will be a positive contributor to sustainable tourism initiatives,
helping to attract more, higher spending culture and heritage tourists
at traditionally quieter times of the year, and it will be a stimulus
to regeneration projects that conserve and celebrate the region's unique
characteristics.
"Our submission as the UK's nomination for 2005 brings
much appreciated recognition of all the years of hard work that have gone
into developing the World Heritage Site Bid. This is the product of many
minds, and was supported by a very wide range of groups, organisations,
and individuals, to whom we are very grateful for the investment of their
time and expertise. We look forward to the process of assessment as an
opportunity to demonstrate to the UNESCO advisers the quality of the Bid
and the breadth of support for it."
Mrs Helen Richards, Cornwall County Council's Environment
& Heritage Portfolio Holder said: "The Bid tells the story of
Cornwall's pivotal role at the heart of the Industrial Revolution, with
all its relevance for how we live today. It is unique, being multi sited
throughout Cornwall, from St Just in West Cornwall to just over the
border with Devon at Morwelham. The work of the Bid Team and partners
has been outstanding to develop what is a complex submission. Success
would put Cornwall even more firmly on the international map, increase
visitor interest and revitalise redundant mining communities."
The Bid has been worked upon for nearly five years due
to the sheer scale of research and writing involved and has undergone
extensive public consultation including scrutiny by a wide range of subject
specialists, consultants, the World Heritage Site Team, World Heritage
Site Partnership and an Officer Working Group.
For further information please contact Monica Kelly, Cornwall
County Council on 01872 322 257 or mkelly@cornwall.gov.uk.
Editor's notes:
The Bid is available to view on: www.cornish-mining.org.uk
| 1. |
The proposed Site includes mine sites and mining landscapes
where there has been an exceptional survival of the physical
remains. These are largely late 18th century, 19th century
and in a few instances, pre-1914 mining remains. It does not
include those widespread areas of tin streaming that survive
in Cornwall and West Devon, associated with a pre-Industrial
Revolution technology and therefore not considered representative
of the 19th century boom years. |
| 2. |
Ten areas have been identified as best representing the
many difference facets of Cornish mining: St Just; Hayle;
Camborne/Redruth; Caradon; Godolphin/Tregonning; Wendron;
St Agnes; St Day/Gwennap; Luxulyan valley and Charlestown;
the Tamar Valley and Tavistock. |
| 3. |
The Cornish Mining Industry was included in the UK's
Tentative List of sites likely to be nominated in the future,
World Heritage Sites – The Tentative List of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was published
by DCMS in June 1999. Inclusion on the Tentative List is a
prerequisite for formal nomination. |
| 4. |
The concept of World Heritage Sites is at the core of
the World Heritage Convention, adopted by UNESCO in 1972,
to which 178 nations belong. Through the Convention, UNESCO
seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation
of the cultural and natural heritage around the world considered
to be of outstanding value to humanity. The Convention required
the establishment of the World Heritage List, under the management
of an inter-governmental World Heritage Committee as a means
of recognising that some places, both natural and cultural,
are of sufficient importance to be the responsibility of the
international community as a whole. As a member of the Convention,
States Parties are pledged to care for their World Heritage
sites as part of protecting their national heritage. |
| 5. |
Nominations for inscription on the World Heritage List
are made by the appropriate States Parties. And are subject
to rigorous evaluation by expert advisers to the World Heritage
Committee, International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)
for cultural sites and/or the World Conservation Union (IUCN)
for natural sites. Decisions on the selection of new World
Heritage Sites are taken by the World Heritage Committee at
its annual summer meetings. There are currently 788 World
Heritage Sites in 164 countries. Some 611 are cultural sites,
154 are natural and 23 are mixed. |
| 6. |
Inclusion in the World Heritage List is essentially honorific
and leaves the existing rights and obligations of owners,
occupiers and planning authorities unaffected. A prerequisite
for World Heritage Site status is, nevertheless, the existence
of effective legal protection and the establishment or firm
prospect of management plans agreed with site owners to ensure
each site's conservation and presentation. |
| 7. |
The UK's World Heritage Sites are currently: |
| |
|
| Cultural |
| |
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Ironbridge Gorge |
| |
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Stonehenge, Avebury & Associated Sites |
| |
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Durham Castle & Cathedral |
| |
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Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey |
| |
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Castles & Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynned |
| |
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Blenheim Palace |
| |
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City of Bath |
| |
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Hadrian's Wall |
| |
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Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey & St Margaret's
Church |
| |
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Tower of London |
| |
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Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine's Abbey & St
Martin's Church |
| |
|
Old and New Towns of Edinburgh |
| |
|
Maritime Greenwich |
| |
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Heart of Neolithic Orkney |
| |
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The Historic Town of St George & Related Fortifications,
Bermuda |
| |
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Blaenavon Industrial Landscape |
| |
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Derwent Valley Mills |
| |
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Saltaire |
| |
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New Lanark |
| |
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Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |
| |
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Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City |
| |
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| Natural |
| |
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Giant's Causeway |
| |
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St Kilda |
| |
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Henderson Island |
| |
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Gough and Inaccessible Islands |
| |
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Dorset and East Devon Coast |
FURTHER INFORMATION:
Monica Kelly (Communications Officer) Cornwall County Council on
01872 322 257 or mkelly@cornwall.gov.uk.
Paula Miles, Devon County Council, on 01392 383290 or paula.miles@devon.gov.uk.
Alison Stoneham, (Media Officer) West Devon Borough Council on
01822 813648 or astoneham@westdevon.gov.uk.
Clare Morgan
Media Relations Manager
Objective One Partnership Office
Castle House
Pydar Street
Truro TR1 2UD
Mobile: 07973 813647
Telephone: 01872 223439
cmorgan@cornwall.gov.uk
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