England's historic towns, and particularly those occupied over longer periods, contain some of our most complex and valuable archaeological remains. Not only are the buried remains, buildings, structures, and plan-form components important for the study of the past, but together they provide a link to our history which can be seen in the modern townscape. Much is known about the origins and development of many of our larger historic towns, whether Roman civitas capitals, market towns, seaports, resorts, or dockyards. This owes much to the fact that towns, and particularly medieval towns, have captured the attention of social and economic historians and geographers as well as archaeologists, often working together to provide an integrated view of urban life as well as the process of urban development. Much of this work has taken place over the last 50 years, increasing our knowledge and providing the evidence necessary for the development of strategies for future management. The smaller towns, however, tend to be less well known.
Comparisons can be drawn between rural and urban settlement in terms of how archaeologists, geographers, and historians analyse the resource. A contrast exists, however, in terms of how it can be protected. In EH's policy statement, Managing the Urban Archaeological Resource (1992), it was noted that the difference, in terms of policies for protection, between urban contexts and some aspects of rural archaeology lay in 2 areas: the greater difficulty of identifying which parts of the urban archaeological resource should be selected for protection; and which form of designation is most appropriate given present and perceived future management. There can be choices between preserving archaeological remains, and the need to allow our towns to thrive and develop. EH's role, and that of local authorities, must be to help make these choices by providing sound information and analysis and wherever possible to reconcile tensions so as to facilitate the achievement of both. This can best be realised by minimising the uncertainty concerning the presence and absence of archaeological remains, and by exploring the question of relative importance.
This is necessary for every town. Very detailed work is needed for the 30 or so English towns which have chronological depth, good survival, and obvious development pressure, and we have initiated a programme of urban archaeological strategies to do this. Some of the results of this programme have now been published. For most towns, however, we are taking a less detailed approach through extensive urban assessments.
Urban archaeological strategies programme
The programme is aimed at helping local authorities implement PPG-16 in historic centres by producing strategies for the archaeology of around 30 of the most important historic towns and cities in England. The programme has proved very popular and the majority of the projects, which are being carried out in close partnership with local authorities, are now in progress. EH provides grant-aid directly to the authority and the work is then carried out in-house or sub-contracted to the local archaeological unit. The local authorities are providing valuable help in kind and support for the projects.
Each project has 3 stages: database, assessment, and strategy. The first stage involves compiling a comprehensive database from archaeological records and other sources (such as historic maps, topographical drawings, and museum collections). An important feature of the databases is the use of digital mapping or Geographic Information System technology. The database provides the foundation for the assessment stage, which entails producing an authoritative statement of our current knowledge and understanding and an assessment of its importance; each assessment will be published as a monograph. The assessment provides the starting point for the strategy which will be developed by, and for, the local authority as a statement of how they wish to protect, manage, and use the archaeological resource. It is intended that the strategy should be formally adopted by the local authority, perhaps as an adjunct to the Local Plan. Planning and development control matters will form an important part of the strategy, but it is hoped that it will also cover the positive management, presentation, and interpretation of the archaeological heritage. This will underline the value of archaeological remains as an asset to local communities (for education, leisure, tourism, and as a contributor to the quality of the urban environment) rather than simply being a constraint on development.
The urban archaeological strategies programme is proving very valuable in a number of ways. The databases are, often for the first time, bringing together in a consistent form the results of the very intensive programmes of investigation which have taken place in almost every historic city since the 1960s. This process is resulting in new insights, and in information which had been forgotten, or overlooked, coming to light. The assessments will provide new syntheses of what has been learnt from urban archaeology in recent decades and the strategies, based on the assessments, will provide a sound framework for the future management and use of the urban archaeological resource. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the close involvement of the local authority in each project serves to heighten interest in, and an appreciation of, archaeological matters among both officers and elected members in many of our most important historic centres.
Extensive Urban Surveys are now underway in several counties. The projects launched to date are being managed through local authorities, with that in Somerset being the most advanced. Each project has 3 phases: development of a database, involving manipulation and consolidation of existing information held on the sites and monuments record, assessment phase, and strategy formulation. Both the assessment and the strategy phases will result in reports describing the form and the development of each town, and presenting an appropriate management strategy. In Somerset the assessment reports have a summary of major sources, a brief history of each town, comments on the archaeology, and a statement on potential which addresses research interests. Lists of sources and a series of maps complete each report. The main section, from which the strategy derives, is the archaeology section. This covers the full extent of the urban area, as presently defined, and includes sub-sections on all periods from prehistory to the 20th century. The assessment of each period, and especially the historic periods, is based on currently available information and the analysis of historic maps, and presented as an exercise in 'plan-form analysis', a method much used by geographers.
The process has been taken through all 3 stages for 2 towns in Somerset, although the strategies are in draft form and require further consultation. Each strategy report includes a series of county-wide policies, one of which applies to each Zone of each town. As well as scheduling, these relate to the preservation of nationally important unscheduled remains through the development control process, the management of nationally important remains whose exact location within the Zone is unknown, the location of remains that are believed to exist but which are not thought to be nationally important, and where remains are suspected or known to be dispersed. As the aim is to have these policies adopted for Local Plans, it is important that they have credibility and are realistic, and to ensure this, planners in the relevant local authorities, at both county and district level, as well as our own staff, are consulted. Although the detail will inevitably vary between projects, depending on local circumstances, the broad framework developed in Somerset is likely to be maintained.
EH has now had discussions with archaeological staff in most English counties and are awaiting proposals from them to undertake Extensive Urban Surveys. Seven projects were underway by mid-1996 and we are hoping to achieve national coverage over the next few years. There is much popular interest in the historical development and archaeology of towns and, to satisfy this demand, we will at a later stage consider publication. Another aspect of the survey must be to address issues of urbanism generally, to provide a context for the work on individual towns, and to present an overview against which topics such as national importance can be explored. It is likely that a series of regional essays will achieve this. Once completed, all England's historic towns will have an agreed strategy appended as Supplementary Planning Guidance to the Local Plan. This help planners, developers and archaeologists alike. We intend to raise public awareness through a series of publications, produced locally with an overview to supplement each town report and to provide the regional context.
