Scheduling of an ancient monument does not in itself ensure its continued preservation. This can only be properly achieved if the monument is appropriately managed and its condition is regularly monitored. Only 400 of the 16,500 monuments currently scheduled are cared for directly by EH and responsibility for managing the remainder lies with a variety of landowners. These include private individuals (many of them farmers), local authorities, businesses, independent bodies such as Wildlife Trusts and the National Trust, and government funded agencies or government departments.
Since the late 1970s a group of regionally-based Field Monument Wardens has been employed to check the condition of scheduled monuments by means of regular site visits. EH currently employs 25 part-time Field Monument Wardens as out-stationed members of the Conservation Group regional teams. The core role of the Wardens is to monitor and report on the condition of scheduled monuments and to advise monument owners on best management practice. In cases where significant expenditure is required to improve site management, EH may grant-aid necessary work and the Wardens are responsible for identifying appropriate cases. Wardens play an important role in representing EH at a local level and frequently may be the only source of direct contact with the owners or occupiers of scheduled monuments.
In recent years, increasing awareness of the importance of heritage conservation and the expansion of government environmental land management schemes have greatly increased the range of the Wardens' caseload. Working in close collaboration with Inspectors of Ancient Monuments in the regional teams, they now provide advice in a variety of fora including advisory panels for National Parks, Environmentally Sensitive Areas, and Areas of Outstanding National Beauty, and they have made a significant contribution towards ensuring the effectiveness of the archaeological and historic landscape input into the Countryside Stewardship Scheme. Several Wardens also play a pivotal role in a number of trial 'agency agreements' which devolve responsibility for positive management of scheduled monuments to local authorities. Currently, schemes are operating in Berkshire, Hampshire, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, the Isle of Wight, and the Peak and Dartmoor National Parks.
