The Howardian Hills AONB Monument Management Scheme aimed to address declining conditions of the AONB's 79 scheduled monuments, many of which were earthworks within woodlands being overtaken by bracken and scrub. The project trained staff and volunteers to survey monuments, prioritized issues, and carried out clearance and vegetation management works on 30 monuments over four years. An application to Historic England secured £44,032 in funding to implement the project. At the halfway point, several monuments had been removed from the Heritage at Risk register and condition assessments improved. By the end, work was completed on 46 monuments and fewer were considered at risk. Keys to success included developing the project over time, utilizing external

1. HOWARDIAN HILLS AONB
MONUMENT MANAGEMENT SCHEME

3. Howardian Hills AONB
• 79 square miles (204 square kilometres)
• 79 Scheduled Monuments (SMs)
• Mostly Round Barrows dating from 2400 – 1500BC
• Also some linear bank-and-ditch systems, interpreted as
land division boundaries
• Some stone-built Monuments, ranging from stone crosses
to Medieval Abbeys in English Heritage stewardship
• Approximately 50% of the SMs are earthworks within
woodland

10. Issues
• Some SMs hadn’t been visited by English Heritage since
1997!
• The AONB Team had very little capacity to assist with
either survey or practical management works
• We knew that many SMs were being safeguarded by
owners, i.e. that they weren’t being planted again following
forestry felling
• We also knew that natural regeneration wasn’t being
managed, so many of them were affected by bracken and
scrub
• All-in-all the condition of the AONB’s SMs was declining
significantly

11. Project Proposal
• Train AONB Team staff and volunteers to survey SMs so
that up-to-date information was available
• Review the database of SMs to identify and prioritise
monuments and issues to be addressed
• Carry out work on approximately 30 SMs where the known
or identified Principal Threats were related to bracken, tree,
scrub or plant growth. Works to consist of initial clearance
work plus essential follow-up chemical treatments(s)
• On selected SMs, where applicable, to re-establish a
benign grass-based vegetation cover (or carry out
experimental work to test methodologies)
• Carry out a follow-up survey, to assess the impact of works

12. Grant Bid
• Applied to English Heritage for a Capacity Building Grant
• Four year programme of work
• £44,032 from Historic England
• £15,300 from HHAONB budget
• £19,500 Volunteer time
• Target – 8 At Risk SMs to be removed from the Heritage at
Risk Register over the four year course of the project
• Target – carry out work to at least 15 Vulnerable SMs to
prevent their decline and subsequent entry on the HAR
Register

19. Pre-project:
• 24 At Risk; 28 Vulnerable; 27 Low/Not at Risk
• 27 Priority A (No strategy identified); 3 Priority E (Monitoring)
Post-survey:
• 31 At Risk; 25 Vulnerable; 23 Low/Not at Risk
• 17 Priority A (No strategy identified); 21 Priority E (Monitoring)

42. Pre-project:
• 24 At Risk; 28 Vulnerable; 27 Low/Not at Risk
• 27 Priority A (No strategy identified); 3 Priority E (Monitoring)
Post-survey:
• 31 At Risk; 25 Vulnerable; 23 Low/Not at Risk
• 17 Priority A (No strategy identified); 21 Priority E (Monitoring)
Half-way stage:
• 30 At Risk; 27 Vulnerable; 22 Low/Not at Risk
• 13 Priority A (No strategy identified); 24 Priority E (Monitoring)
How are we doing?

43. • HE grant - £18,400 (42%)
• AONB contribution - £12,400 (80%)
• Volunteer time - £8,900 (45%)
End of project:
• Work completed on 46 SMs
• 12 At Risk; 45 Vulnerable

44. KEYS TO SUCCESS
• Developing the project over a long timescale, utilising
expertise from other existing projects
• Building paid assistance from these projects into our own,
so that we benefit from external expertise and other
organisations earn a small income
• Innovative thinking to unlock the impasse of having many
willing volunteers but no Volunteer Leaders
• A flexible approach to delivery of management work
• Combining the various benefits into a simple scheme that
delivered Historic England’s core aim, paid for the time of
both members of the AONB Team and which allowed the
majority of the cash funding to come from Historic England