Heritage Minister’s Ambition for the Welsh Historic Environment

Alun Ffred Jones AM, Minister for Heritage 2

I was brought up in an area — bro — where I was very aware of Wales’s historic environment. Caer Gai, the site of a Roman fort near Llanuwchllyn and later the home of Rolant Vaughan, a prominent figure in the Civil War, was farmed by the family of one of my school friends. My village school, Ysgol O. M. Edwards, was named after the leading educationalist and prolific editor born at Coed y Pry, a local smallholding. The head teacher at the time, Ifor Owen, designed the beautiful wrought-iron gates to the local cemetery. Many people living in Wales will have had similar experiences in which they relate to historic sites that have a personal or local significance for them.

Caring for our inheritance is a duty and a privilege, but the full significance of this responsibility is only apparent in a broader context. Alun Ffred Jones AM, Minister for Heritage. We live in times of rapid change and great challenges. Beneath the ‘credit crunch’ lies the fundamental need to make the transition to a more sustainable way of life: one that not only respects environmental limits, but also promotes human values and our sense of community rather than undermines them. The commitment to meet this challenge is rooted in a strong sense of our obligation to future generations and we are much more likely to be able to foster such commitment if, as a society, we have a genuine feeling for the debt we owe to generations past. Helping Welsh citizens to develop a real affinity with our historic environment is an integral part of the Welsh Assembly Government’s approach to sustainability. It follows that any strategy for the historic environment cannot focus narrowly on conserving a small number of select monuments, fenced off and set apart. The sheer wealth and nuances of the history we need to care for is why such an approach would be insufficient. Take our three World Heritage Sites; all of them superb feats of engineering; cutting- edge stuff in global terms. But equally important are the stories of the men and women whose lives were changed forever during the sites’ construction or by their very presence. These tales of political struggles, huge wealth and grinding poverty need to be told in vivid colours. And the descriptive Welsh place-names tell their own story at Blaenafon, Caernarfon and Pontcysyllte. The fundamental point is that people are at the centre of our vision for the historic environment. Protection and conservation — vital as they are — are not enough alone. Our historic environment shows how people have shaped our local landscapes over millennia in ways that have produced their local character. We need to help people appreciate the historic environment and ‘read the landscape’ — not just the obvious elements such as castles and chapels, but also the pattern of quarries, ancient trackways, field systems and cairns. The rewards are not simply personal satisfaction for individuals. The historic environment creates our ‘sense of place’ and therefore our sense of shared belonging and of roots. Nurturing a living sense of what it is to be a citizen of Wales is a key priority for the Assembly Government, © Crown Copyright 2009. and citizenship cannot be a theoretical concept. It is about emotional

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ties and imagined community, as much with previous generations as with ones to come. Our objective is therefore to help all people in Wales to gain at least some sense of the historic environment in which they live. This is an ambitious objective. What does it mean in practice? For most people, we need to begin by strengthening their pride in the historic environment of their local community. There is much we can build on here. We are fortunate that Wales is such an extraordinarily diverse country. Very few areas lack a local sense of place. This is often bound up with the distinctive character of streetscapes, housing and much-loved local buildings. One has only to think of the contrasting architecture of the Valleys coalfield, the slate-mining communities of Gwynedd, the Victorian and Edwardian heritage of Cardiff, the cottages of Lleyn and Ceredigion, or the character of our medieval walled towns to see what I mean. We can celebrate this local sense of place and encourage local planning and development to strengthen rather than undermine it. We can reinvigorate local vernacular architecture as a living tradition with which people can be involved. We can tap into the burgeoning interest in researching family and local history to stimulate interest in the historic environment. Local authorities, libraries and voluntary groups all have key contributions to make, alongside the Assembly Government and its agencies. The more we can increase people’s pride in what their local community has achieved in the past, the more we can foster confidence in what can be achieved in the future. Any regeneration scheme should involve conserving and enhancing the built heritage. Indeed, heritage sites, be they industrial or medieval, can be the focal points of such plans and this need not be seen as a barrier to development and innovation. And a contemporary and innovative response to a heritage site can be energizing and beautiful. What is more, regeneration should involve communities in researching their own past and result in exhibitions and public performances, as well as active participation in articulating the character and local relevance of future development. In the Senedd in September I will be announcing my strategic statement and action plan for the historic environment. Building on the substantial progress already made, my priorities include the following:

Conserving and protecting our historic environment has to be the starting point. While it has not yet been possible for the UK Government to find Parliamentary time to introduce new legislation to modernize and streamline the heritage protection system, I remain committed to pressing for its introduction at the earliest opportunity. In the mean time, my officials are working to make as much progress as possible in applying the spirit of the proposed reforms. Climate change poses new challenges for conservation. Cadw will continue to develop its monitoring of the risks to the historic environment and will make advice and guidance available on how these 5

risks can be reduced. Cadw will also work with officials in other Assembly Government departments to ensure that where possible opportunities are taken to protect and manage the historic environment, and to promote its wider benefits when considering sustainable development and heritage regeneration schemes. There are also real opportunities to involve communities and local groups in defining what is of significance and to engage their assistance with the practice of conservation. Conservation also depends on specialist skilled crafts people and professionals. Such skills are won through years of practice and are in short supply. There are no instant solutions, but I will be supporting practical action to help grow our skills base and to increase public appreciation of what conservation specialists do so that more young people are attracted to such careers.

My central priority however has to be to encourage many more people to appreciate the historic environment. The Assembly Government has already done a great deal to remove some of the most obvious barriers. People in Wales have free admission to national museums and those who are under 16, or 60 and over, to all Cadw sites. We are investing to overcome physical barriers for people with disabilities and will continue to do so. But some of the most important barriers to access are more subtle because they are to do with people’s attitudes. We need to be at our most innovative in addressing this. The first requirement is that we make visits to historic sites enjoyable. This is not simply a matter of more innovative presentation. We need to bring history to life by helping people appreciate the human stories associated with heritage sites. Historical events cannot be understood through individual sites alone so we also need to help people understand the drama of history by seeing sites much more in the context of their historical landscapes and townscapes. Helping people to see the links in this way should also encourage them to look beyond the mainstream attractions and to explore the special places which resonate with the stories of our predecessors and our own memories and responses. It is important that we dispel the subconscious impression, which many may have, that the historic environment is all about the monuments of the rich and powerful. Telling the story of history’s ordinary people, including the underdog, is also our responsibility. Cadw and bodies such as the Royal Commission, the National Trust, national and local archives, and museums are already doing a great deal to tell these ‘hidden histories’ and will develop this further through interpretation, publication and ‘living history’. Many of us living in Wales have our own distinct set of attitudes that encourage us to identify with some sites and shy away from others. I have written separately about the attitudes of some of us in Wales to the castles built by Edward I, expressing the hope that as devolution 6

develops we can be more at ease with our troubled medieval history and its dominant monuments. Conversely, some Welsh communities have felt that Cadw has in the past focused on the conquerors’ castles to the detriment of sites associated with the native Welsh princes, many of which are not in state guardianship. Cadw is redressing this balance through the Welsh Cultural Heritage Initiative. Conservation and access to a range of sites in private and third sector ownership is being improved and the presentation of the story of the princes of Gwynedd is being strengthened, for example, by linking Conwy and Deganwy castles. The investment that the National Trust is making at Dinefwr and the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and Cadw are making at Nanhyfer complement this by telling the turbulent story of the princes of Deheubarth.

These approaches to tackling attitudinal barriers must be supplemented by other ways of switching people on to the historic environment. As Heritage Minister I have a particular concern to strengthen links with culture and the arts. The Cultural Olympiad project, ‘Cauldrons and Furnaces’, is for example showing how artistic performance and activity can be inspired by heritage, and how heritage sites can be the stage for performance. Links with schools and the curriculum are similarly important. The ‘Songs from Stones’ project in 2008 was a striking demonstration of how the performing arts can involve school children in an exploration of prehistory. I attach high priority to unlocking creative potential and will be looking to Cadw and others to build on this pioneering effort. There is of course real scope to use new media and the internet to much greater effect to increase awareness of and access to the historic environment. The new ‘Casgliad y Bobl’ development will be able to highlight links to the historic environment. And the internet offers opportunities to make links with the large numbers of people researching their family and local history. A stronger presence for Wales’s historic environment on the web has the potential not only to increase awareness among people in Wales, but also to raise the recognition of Wales’s identity internationally. It is in this sense part of Wales’s tourism marketing effort and of what I call ‘Project Wales’ — the whole business of putting Wales on the world map.

My final priority area for action is research and scholarship. I referred at the beginning of this essay to the enlightened attitude of my head teacher at Ysgol O. M. Edwards. Today the study of Welsh history is patchy, despite the range and depth of academic studies from Welsh historians in the past few decades. America and World War II seem to be the hot topics these days. Certainly, too little research is currently being undertaken into Welsh medieval history for example. I will be encouraging my officials and sponsored institutions to work with the higher education sector, museums, local archives and archaeological trusts to continue to prompt

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new research into all periods of Welsh history and strengthen Wales’s capacity in this area. If we can realize this ambition effectively, the benefits will be substantial. Not least we will gain a deeper sense of what we owe to past and future generations, of community identity and self-confidence and of what it is to be a citizen of a sustainable Wales. It will foster a heightened sense of place — of what makes the different parts of Wales special — and as a result localities will become more attractive places to live, work and visit. Economic benefits will be delivered through sustainable development, regeneration and an enhanced leisure and tourism ‘product’. There will be a wealth of opportunities for education and lifelong learning, and for healthy enjoyment of the outdoor historic landscape. We will unlock a rich vein of inspiration for our wider arts and cultural industries; and, through a greater appreciation of Wales’s history, a stronger sense of our identity and our place on the world stage will emerge. This is an ambitious agenda. Turning it into reality requires the practical commitment of a wide range of partners — most notably local government; third sector groups involved with archaeology, history, tourism and local regeneration; the private sector and the higher education sector. At a time when public spending is tight, we have to be realistic about the funding that will be available and get the very most from the resources that we do have at our disposal. The benefits in terms of sustainable regeneration, leisure and tourism, the confidence of our communities and the health of our society are a real prize. My personal commitment is to ensure that my officials in Cadw and elsewhere carry forward the priorities outlined here and the actions that will be set out in more detail in my Plenary statement in September. I will work with other Assembly Government Ministers to foster teamwork with their departments in support of the strategy; I will seek every opportunity to raise the profile of the historic environment and celebrate its contribution to life in Wales, and I will maintain dialogue with interested potential partners in the public, private and third sectors to continue to develop action in support of this ambition.