Scheduled Monument Consent

Prior consent from the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport is required for certain works to a scheduled monument. This is known as scheduled monument consent (SMC) under Section 2(3) of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 (as amended) (the 1979 Act).

Historic England provides the Secretary of State, through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), with advice on all SMC applications.

All SMC applications must be made using the Application for Scheduled Monument Consent form, which can be downloaded from our website. Please read the guidance carefully before filling in the form.

We strongly encourage potential applicants to contact and discuss the proposals with the Inspector of Ancient Monuments in the relevant Historic England regional office when considering works to a scheduled monument.

Free initial pre-application advice is provided by Historic England. Any further advice will be provided through our extended pre-application advice service. There is no charge to make a SMC application.

The list of Historic England regional offices can be found on our website.

Pre-application advice:

• helps to clarify whether or not consent is likely to be required;
• helps to identify the information required to support an application;
• should improve the quality of the application and enable you to firm up emerging proposals;
• reduces the risk of an application being rejected because of insufficient information; and
• reduces the risk of consent being refused.

Historic England can provide advice about the relevant documentation required to accompany an SMC application. This information will vary depending on the type and complexity of the proposed works. In some cases, we may recommend that a heritage professional should be engaged to help you to develop the proposals.

Depending on the type and extent of the proposed works, an archaeological survey or evaluation might need to be undertaken first to establish the significance of any buried archaeological remains.

Next Section: Historic England Guide for making a scheduled monument consent application

Prior consent from the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport is required for certain works to a scheduled monument. This is known as scheduled monument consent (SMC) under Section 2(3) of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 (as amended) (the 1979 Act).

All SMC applications must be made using the Application for Scheduled Monument Consent form, which can be downloaded from our website. Please read this guidance carefully before filling in the application form.

Historic England administers SMC applications on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and provides DCMS with advice on all applications. Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss proposals with the relevant Historic England regional office before submitting an SMC application. The list of Historic England regional offices can be found on our website.

Free initial pre-application advice is provided by Historic England. Any further advice will be provided through our extended pre-application advice service. There is no charge to make a SMC application.

If insufficient information is submitted with an application, additional information will be requested to enable the impact of the proposals to be assessed. Historic England may advise the applicant to withdraw the application and resubmit when the additional information has been prepared.

Please complete the application following the instructions below. Hand-written applications should be in BLOCK CAPITALS using black ink.

1. Applicant

The application form requires the full name and address of the applicant, as well as telephone number, of the applicant to be provided. It would be also helpful to provide the applicant’s title and email address here.

2. Occupier of monument (if not the applicant)

Please provide the name, address and telephone of the occupier of the monument. Sometimes, the applicant might be the occupier of the monument and own it; sometimes, the applicant is not the owner. It would be helpful to clarify the status of the applicant and the ownership of the monument here.

Owner means either:

1. a person who is, for the time being, owner of the freehold interest in the scheduled monument land; or
2. a person who holds a leasehold interest in the scheduled monument land of which not less than seven years remain unexpired.

Please continue on a separate sheet if there is insufficient space to list the details of the known owners.

3. Monument to which application relates

Please provide the full monument name, National Heritage List for England List Entry Number (and the county monument number if the monument has one) and address or location. The name and county monument number can be found on the National Heritage List for England.

The National Grid Reference (NGR) should provide an accurate grid reference for the location of proposed works. This is important if the proposed works are limited to one part of a large monument. NGRs are usually available on map websites, where they are part of the information given at the bottom of the page. For more information on grid references and how to get them from paper maps, see the Ordnance Survey website.

4. Description of proposed works

All the proposed works must be described in sufficient detail to enable their impact on the significance of the scheduled monument to be assessed. An accurate location of the proposed works within the scheduled monument is required. Depending on the nature of the proposed works, additional information may need to be provided to support the application (see Section 5).

5. List of plans and drawings accompanying application

A list of all the documents, including drawings and photographs, submitted with the application must be provided here.

An accurate location plan (or plans), to scale, of the proposed works within the scheduled monument must be provided.

6. Any other information relevant to the application

You should include any other information which might be relevant here. If any pre-application engagement has taken place, please provide this information, including the reference number and date.

Where planning permission has been applied for or granted, the planning application reference should be provided.

If known, it would be helpful to provide an indicative timescale, including the start date and likely completion date, of the proposed works.

Depending on the nature of the proposed works, you might need to include one or more of the following documents:

• a statement of significance;
• a heritage impact assessment;
• the results of an archaeological evaluation or geophysical survey;
• a historic building survey;
• a condition survey;
• a specification and schedule of works;
• a written scheme of archaeological investigation (WSI);
• a method statement for vegetation clearance;
• photographs, clearly labelled, of the location of the proposed works;
• a conservation management plan.

The type and amount of supporting information should be no more than is sufficient to assess the potential impact of the proposed works on the significance of the monument.

Historic England can provide advice and guidance about the need for any supporting documents and the need for any specialist input before the application is submitted. Please contact the relevant local Historic England office to request this as part of the pre-application process.

Declaration

The application form must be signed and dated by the applicant or by their agent. The signature can be typed in black.

Agent Details

Where an agent has completed the application form on behalf of the applicant, their contact details must be provided. Where applicable, the agent must provide the details of their own organisation or practice.

Clarification of ownership of the monument is required to enable Historic England to process applications efficiently. An ownership certificate form needs to be completed and submitted together with the SMC application form. The certification section relates to the applicant's interest (ownership) in the scheduled monument.

The Secretary of State may refuse to consider an SMC application unless it is accompanied by the appropriate certificate of ownership. The relevant ownership certificate must be completed and signed by the applicant or their agent.

Additionally, each owner listed in the relevant certificate form must be sent a completed “Form of Notice” by the applicant or by their agent, notifying them of the proposed works. The Form of Notice is the last page of the application form.

An “Owner” must have been the owner for at least 21 days before the submission date of the SMC application. An Owner means a person who is for the time being the freehold owner of the monument or is entitled to a tenancy of the monument of which not less than seven years remain unexpired.

It is important that the applicant makes every reasonable effort to obtain the names and addresses of other owners. Ownership information about most properties can be purchased from the Land Registry for a small fee.

The applicant or their agent must complete and sign one of the four Certificates of Ownership – 2(1)(a), 2(1)(b), 2(1)(c) or 2(1)(d).

Certificate 2(1)(a)
This must be signed and dated if the applicant is the sole owner of the scheduled monument.

Certificate 2(1)(b)
This must be signed and dated if the applicant is not the sole owner and there are other owners of the scheduled monument. If there is more than one owner, the name and address of every owner should be provided on this form.

If one sheet is insufficient, please continue to list the details of the owners on a separate sheet.

Each owner listed on this certificate must be provided with a completed Form of Notice to notify them of the proposed works. The Form of Notice is the last page of the application form.

Certificate 2(1)(c)
This must be signed and dated when the applicant is aware the monument is owned by others, but the applicant is only aware of some of the owners and their contact details. The name and address of every owner who is known should be set out here.

If one sheet is insufficient, please continue to list the details of the known owners on a separate sheet.

Each owner listed on this certificate must be provided with a completed Form of Notice to notify them of the proposed works. The Form of Notice is the last page of the application form.

Certificate Section 2(1)(d)
This must be signed and dated if the applicant, after making all reasonable effort to find out the details of the other owners, has been unable to obtain the details of any of the owners of the scheduled monument.

The applicant must serve the Form of Notice on all the owners when the SMC application is submitted to Historic England so that they are aware that SMC has been applied for. The Form of Notice is the last page of the application form.

Applicants may wish to provide owners with information about the proposed works before submitting an application, so they are aware of the proposal/s in advance of the Form of Notice.

The completed SMC application form and supporting documents can be sent by email to the relevant Historic England regional office. Alternatively, the completed application can be sent by post to the business team at the regional office.

The list of the Historic England regional offices and their contact can be found on our website.

Further information about labelling and sending supporting documents is provided in Appendix 1.

Please ensure the information submitted on the certificate is correct. It is an offence to issue a certificate which purports to comply with the requirements and which contains a statement which is known to be false or misleading in a material particular or to recklessly issue a certificate which purports to comply with the requirements and which contains a statement which is false or misleading in a material particular.

It is important that both the completed application form and one of the Certificates of Ownership are signed and dated by the applicant or their agent and submitted together with all relevant supporting information. In addition, where Certificates 2(1)(b) or 2(1)(c) have been signed, the Form of Notice must also be signed and dated and served on the owners of the scheduled monument.

Supporting documents sent as digital attachments should be clearly named clearly named on the cover / first page, along with the author and/or organisation, version number (where appropriate) and date.

Digital file names should be short and meaningful. The file name should include the date first (date format YYYYMMDD), followed by a short name, version number (where appropriate) and the status (i.e. Final or Draft). Characters such as ” < > : / \ | ? % * ~ should not be used.

Digital files should be submitted in common file formats: for text/documents, MS Word or PDF; for spreadsheets, MS Excel; for images, .jpg (lossy graphics files) or .tiff (uncompressed). Please check that other file formats can be read by Historic England before sending them.

When sending supporting files by email, emails should not exceed 20MB. If a file exceeds this limit, it will need to be reduced or sent via another file transfer means. Please check that the file transfer means can be accessed by Historic England before sending large digital files.

If the application is sent by post, it should be addressed to the business team at the Historic England regional office. A cover letter should be included so the application can be easily identified.

Freedom of Information

Historic England is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 which provide a general right of access to information we hold.

We may provide information you have supplied in response to a request made under this legislation, subject to any exemptions which apply.

Privacy Notice

• When you submit an application to Historic England, you will be asked to provide your name and contact details. We will use these details to contact you and keep you informed about the status of your application.
• Personal information that you choose to provide in support of your application, including photographs, will be used to maintain a record of the application and to inform our assessment and recommendation. You should not include sensitive personal data within the application.
• Personal information in the application will be shared with DCMS.
• We retain a permanent record of all submitted applications.
• Read the Historic England Privacy Policy for more information about how we use and store your personal information.

Data Protection

We will always store your personal details securely. We collect data that you provide to us and only ever collect the information we need in order to carry out our statutory purposes, and that helps us to deliver and improve our services.

We will only share personal data when we are required to by law or with carefully selected partners who work for us. If you would like to know more or understand your data protection rights, please take a look at our privacy policy.

Next Section: What happens after an application for Scheduled Monument Consent has been submitted?

Historic England aims to provide advice to the Secretary of State, through DCMS, within 42-days of receipt of a complete scheduled monument consent (SMC) application.

Historic England will check the application form has been completed correctly and check the supporting documents. Sufficient information needs to be submitted to enable the Secretary of State to understand:

a. what works are proposed to which part of the Scheduled Monument; and
b. the impact on the significance of the Scheduled Monument (and on that of any other Scheduled Monuments in whose setting it is located).

Historic England will send an acknowledgement to the applicant within five working days after receiving an application. If insufficient information has been submitted, additional information will be requested. Historic England may advise the applicant to withdraw their application when any additional documentation is required.

Following receipt of a complete application, Historic England will process the application. Historic England will write to each co-owner of the Scheduled Monument, if the applicant is not the sole owner, and offer the opportunity to make representations to the Secretary of State on the SMC application. These representations will be taken into account in the advice that Historic England provides to the Secretary of State.

The application will then be assessed and Historic England will provide written advice to Secretary of State, through DCMS, together with a copy of the completed SMC application.

Upon receiving the SMC application, and before reaching a decision, the Secretary of State will:

• have regard to Historic England’s advice, plus any relevant representations that have been received (either directly or via Historic England);
• decide, in line with published policy, whether he or she is minded to grant consent (conditionally or unconditionally), part-grant consent (conditionally or unconditionally) and part-refuse consent, or refuse consent;
• decide whether to call a public inquiry or else to offer the applicant, plus any other persons he or she considers it expedient to do so, the opportunity of a hearing; and
• have regard to the report of the person who chaired the public local inquiry, or hearing, if one has been held.

Other than in complex or contentious cases, unless the Secretary of State decides to call a public local inquiry in relation to an application, a ‘minded to’ decision will usually be communicated to Historic England within 10 days of its advice having been received. In such instances, Historic England will then proceed to contact the SMC applicant, plus any other persons the Secretary of State considers it expedient to do so, in order to:

• communicate the Secretary of State’s ‘minded to’ decision: and
• communicate the Secretary of State’s offer of a hearing.

Please note: the receipt of a ‘minded to’ decision does not mean that SMC has been granted.

Responses to the Secretary of State’s offer of a hearing should be provided to Historic England within 21 days. If the offer is declined by all of the parties to whom it is offered, or if no responses are received within 21 days (in which case the offer will be deemed to have been declined), Historic England will proceed to notify the applicant, plus any other persons the Secretary of State considers it expedient to do so, of his or her final decision.

If, however, the offer of a hearing is taken up by any of the parties to whom it is offered, Historic England will inform DCMS, which will proceed to organise a hearing. Following the hearing, DCMS will notify the applicant, plus any other persons the Secretary of State considers it expedient to do so, of his or her final decision.

There is no right of appeal in relation to SMC decisions. Under the provisions of section 55 of the of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, any person who is aggrieved by such a decision may challenge its validity by an application made to the High Court within six weeks from the date when the decision is given. The grounds upon which an application may be made to the Court are limited, however.

Next Section: What happens after Scheduled Monument Consent has been granted?

If SMC is granted, there will be several actions the applicant will need to take before works can commence.

If SMC is granted, it will be usually subject to conditions and these control the way in which the consent can be implemented. The conditions will be listed in the SMC decision letter.

Applicants must ensure that all pre-commencement conditions have been complied with. They must ensure that adequate provisions are in place to meet the requirements of all other conditions during and after the completion of on-site works.

SMC is granted under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 (as amended). It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure works comply with all other relevant permissions, for example, planning approval, building regulations and ecological licences.

Conditions are frequently used to deal with specific aspects of an SMC. It is a criminal offence to execute, cause or permit works to be executed which are in breach of the SMC conditions.

A condition will normally be attached to a consent for notice to be given to Historic England regarding the start date of works and on the completion of works.

A condition will normally be attached to deal with the control of site works, including equipment and machinery, to ensure no accidental damage occurs during the works, and to ensure all subcontractors are adequately briefed about the significance of the scheduled monument and the limitations of the SMC.

A condition will normally be attached to permit Historic England access to inspect the works whilst they are in progress. A site meeting will be often required to monitor compliance with the consent, and to review and sign-off works on completion. For major projects, regular monitoring meetings may be required throughout the duration of the works.

Conditions might be attached to an SMC requiring the submission and approval of appropriate method statements, if not submitted with the application, before works commence.

Compliance conditions ensure that works are carried out in accordance with any specifications and/or method statements submitted with the application.

Common conditions relate to archaeological monitoring and recording during the works, and to repair and management, including control of materials, vegetation removal and landscaping.

For some conditions, there may be a requirement for a report to be prepared after the completion of works on site. This is normally the case for archaeological investigations, and there will be a requirement for archiving and publication of the results.

There will be a requirement for an as-built record to be compiled on completion, normally consisting of marked-up drawings supported as necessary by photographs, to ensure that the works are documented.

If SMC is granted it will be for up to five years beginning with the date on which the consent was granted, or such period as may be specified in the SMC. This means that the works must be implemented or started within that time period.

If the SMC has not been implemented or started in that period, it will lapse. It is not guaranteed that a new SMC application identical to a previously expired consent would be granted again, as policy may have changed. Applicants are advised to seek guidance from Historic England before submitting a new application.

Occasionally there is potential for unexpected issues to arise before the start of, and sometimes during, the execution of consented works that results in the need for those works to be altered or changed.

Any proposed changes to the consented works to a Scheduled Monument must be authorised and, therefore, a variation to the SMC may be required from the Secretary of State.

As soon as the need for change is realised, the advice of Historic England should be sought as to how best to respond to the new circumstances.

Variations to grants of SMC should be made using the Variation to Scheduled Monument Consent form, which can be downloaded from our website.

The completed Variation to Scheduled Monument Consent form and supporting documents can be sent by email to the relevant Historic England regional office. Alternatively, the completed form can be sent by post to the business team at the regional office.

The list of the Historic England regional offices and their contact can be found on our website.

Historic England will provide its advice to DCMS within 20 working days of the latter’s receipt.

Upon receiving a Variation to Scheduled Monument Consent form, or upon deciding to vary a grant of SMC without an application form having been received, and before reaching a decision, the Secretary of State will:

• have regard to Historic England’s advice, plus any relevant representations that have been received (either directly or via Historic England);
• decide, in line with published policy, whether he or she is minded to grant the variation (conditionally or unconditionally), part-grant the variation (conditionally or unconditionally) and part-refuse the variation, or refuse the variation;
• decide whether to call a public inquiry or else to offer the applicant, the owner(s) or occupier(s) of the monument, plus any other person who in his or her opinion would be affected by the proposed variation, the opportunity of a hearing; and
• have regard to the report of the person who chaired the public local inquiry, or hearing, if one has been held.

Other than in complex or contentious cases, unless the Secretary of State decides to call a public local inquiry in relation to an application, a provisional ‘minded to’ decision will usually be communicated to Historic England within 10 days of its advice having been received.

In such instances, Historic England will then proceed to contact the applicant, the owner(s) or occupier(s) of the monument, plus any other person who in the Secretary of State’s opinion would be affected by the proposed variation, in order to:

• communicate the Secretary of State’s ‘minded to’ decision: and
• communicate the Secretary of State’s offer of a hearing.

Please note: the receipt of a provisional ‘minded to’ decision does not mean that SMC variation has been granted.

Responses to the Secretary of State’s offer of a hearing should be provided to Historic England within 14 days. If the offer is declined by all of the parties to whom it is offered, or if no responses are received within 21 days (in which case the offer will be deemed to have been declined), Historic England will proceed to notify the applicant, the owner(s) or occupier(s) of the monument, plus any other person who in the Secretary of State’s opinion would be affected by the proposed variation, of his or her final decision.

If the offer of a hearing is taken up by any of the parties to whom it is offered, Historic England will inform DCMS, which will proceed to organise a hearing. Following the hearing DCMS will notify the applicant, the owner(s) or occupier(s) of the monument, plus any other person who in the Secretary of State’s opinion would be affected by the proposed variation, of his or her final decision.

Where additional works are proposed, it will be necessary to submit a new SMC application. In these cases, the applicant will be advised as soon as possible.

It is an offence to undertake works that are outside the scope of a grant of SMC.

On occasion, the Secretary of State may decide to revoke a grant of SMC (in full or in part). Before revoking a grant of SMC, the Secretary of State will:

• decide whether to call a public inquiry or else to offer the owner(s) or occupier(s) of the Scheduled Monument in question, plus any other person who in his or her opinion would be affected by the proposed revocation, the opportunity of a hearing; and
• have regard to the report of the person who chaired the public local inquiry, or hearing, if one has been held.