First ever county-wide Local Heritage List for Buckinghamshire revealed

Maids Moreton Mound artwork by Keziah Furini. (Image supplied by Buckinghamshire Council)

On Friday 6th January 2023, Buckinghamshire Council announced the adoption of its first ever county-wide heritage list.

Using Government funding, the council has developed a Local Heritage List to protect some of the most important sites in the county that contribute to the character and heritage of Buckinghamshire.

There have been more than 2,653 nominations for inclusion on the list and 771 of these sites are now being brought forward for adoption in Phase 1.

The Local Heritage List identifies locally significant heritage sites and celebrates their contribution to local identity and character. These sites include historic buildings (houses, chapels, agricultural and industrial buildings), archaeological sites (upstanding earthwork remains and buried sites), formal gardens, public open spaces, public works of art, monuments and street furniture.

This is different to statutory listing and designations (e.g., Grade I, II and II* listed buildings, scheduled monuments, and registered parks and gardens), which are assessed nationally by Historic England.

Peter Strachan, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration at Buckinghamshire Council, said: ‘I’ve very pleased to welcome the adoption of our very first county-wide Local Heritage List.

This has been made possible thanks to local communities coming forward to nominate heritage assets which are special to them and their area. I’d also like to thank the many volunteers who have worked (and continue to work) on this historic project.

The Local Heritage List will help us protect local heritage assets for future generations to enjoy. For instance, assets on this list will be recognised and considered in any future planning applications.

To celebrate the adoption of the first phase of sites to the Local Heritage List, we selected two artists to respond to two public nominations. Keziah Furini was chosen to produce artwork related to the Maids Moreton Mound, and Henry Rice was selected to work on the Buckinghamshire Canal buildings. Working with the nominees, these pieces of artwork were funded by Farnham Maltings, and will be used to celebrate the public interest in the project and the importance of Buckinghamshire’s heritage assets to the local communities who nominated them.‘

Two examples of sites going forward for adoption in the Local Heritage List are:

• Maids Moreton Mound, a medieval mound at Maids Moreton.
• Bekonscot Model Village in Beaconsfield.

The total number of nominations assessed for Phase 1 was 956. Of this number, 771 are ‘candidate ready’ for adoption (169 were rejected and 16 had insufficient information). Of the 771 ready for adoption, 546 are buildings, 77 parks and gardens, 62 Landmarks / art, 86 other. A further 737 have already been assessed for Phase 2.

Further information and a list of nominated sites can be found on the Buckinghamshire Local Heritage List website.

*Source of article : Press release from Buckinghamshire Council.