Sustainable Farming – Protecting and Enhancing the Historic Environment

The Welsh countryside is a rich tapestry of our shared cultural history, with landscapes containing many buildings, monuments and artefacts that tell the story of Wales across the centuries. These historic assets make the places we live and work special, and contribute to our communities and cultural identity. The Welsh historic environment and assets are also a huge tourist attraction - Welsh heritage attractions generate around £1.72 bn per year and provide almost 3% of Wales’ total employment. Such historic sites support both the economic and social well-being of Wales, which makes their preservation and enhancement all the more important.

Whilst a proportion of historic assets are located in urban areas, Wales is a largely rural country so many are located on farmland and responsibility for their conservation and management lies with the farmers. Farmers are encouraged to undertake regular management and straightforward conservation works on any historic assets on their property, taking a ‘do no damage’ approach. This module will provide an introduction to asset site types and examples of management and conservation strategies, you will also find links to the appropriate rules and legislation surrounding the management of historic assets in Wales.