1. Introduction

1.1 Background and context

In 2021, Defra published the England Peat Action Plan (UK Government 2021a), setting out England’s peatland restoration aims for 2025. The document recognised the historic environment importance of peatlands and highlighted the need for Historic England and Natural England to work together to support the plan.

Two resultant outputs, alongside this guidance are:

Peatland restoration and the historic environment: Standards for delivering environmentally sustainable peatland restoration projects (Natural England and Historic England 2022) which sets out the historic environment standards that work carried out under the Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme (NCPGS) should meet.

Peatlands and the Historic Environment: An Introduction to their Cultural and Heritage Value (Historic England 2024 – first published 2021) which is a short introduction explaining how peatlands are important for archaeological, palaeoenvironmental and cultural reasons. It also includes information on the natural capital values of peatlands and their types and distribution in England.

These can be found, together with further peatland information, on our Protecting Peat Bogs and Peatlands page.

Furthermore, in 2024 Historic England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and Natural England published a joint statement recognising the inter-connectedness of the natural and historic environments and committing to work together as organisations to integrate their management (Historic England et al 2024).

1.2 This guidance

Whatever the drivers for peatland restoration, which are likely to include climate change mitigation, water management, habitat creation, and species conservation, all programmes of peatland restoration need to engage with archaeological guidance and mitigation to ensure the protection and enhancement of the peatland historic environment. This includes remains below and within the peat, and at/on the peat surface itself (see Historic England 2024).

This guidance describes the benefits of collaborative working in peatland restoration projects. It sets out what is required and when, in terms of peatland historic environment information for the development of a restoration project.

It covers all stages of a project; from initial identification of the proposed peat restoration site, through site assessment (both desk- and field-based), impact assessment, and the on-site restoration works themselves, any ongoing/subsequent monitoring, to archiving the datasets produced. It also signposts where to go for advice and further information.

There is emphasis throughout on ensuring that all the components of the peatland historic environment are considered, protected, and, where possible, enhanced; if well thought out and planned for, peatland restoration projects will benefit both the natural and historic environments. This is especially important for small-scale works which often sit outside the formal (NPPF) planning and consultation process and/or Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) (Agriculture) Regulations.

It also sets out ways to carry out restoration work considerately and sensitively.

Peatlands in a healthy and stable condition enable historic environment features, above- and below-ground, to be preserved for future generations. As well as providing physical evidence about the past (archaeology and palaeoenvironments /palaeoecology), peatlands are culturally and socially important; see Historic England (2024). The historic environment of peatlands also represents a valuable component and resource for public engagement and education in the context of peatland restoration.

The archaeology of lowland and upland peats

Archaeological remains can be found below, within, and on top of peatlands. Although collectively referred to within this guidance as ‘peatlands’, the archaeology contained within lowland and upland peats can differ in character and form.

• Lowland peats: these peat deposits are located in low-lying areas such as the Somerset Levels (Somerset) and the Humberhead Levels (Lincolnshire and Yorkshire). In these settings, a substantial component of the archaeological remains is waterlogged organic remains buried within the peat itself, such as prehistoric village settlements, trackway, and logboats.
• Upland peats: these are peat deposits usually found above 200 metres, in upland areas such as Dartmoor (Devon) and the North Pennines (across County Durham, Northumberland and Cumbria), and are typically areas of blanket bog. Archaeological remains in these settings tend to be stone features, such as cairns, lithics, and stone rows, often exposed in erosion scars, if not at the surface.

Common to both landscapes are the archaeological remains of more recent management and exploitation of these landscapes, for farming and grazing, and for fuel and minerals (i.e. mining). Often, this evidence (for example, drainage ditches) is the reason why peatland restoration is needed, and in a small number of cases, these features may be of a high significance.

1.3 Who is this guidance for?

This guidance is aimed at everyone – individuals and/or organisations – involved with the management and planning of restoration projects on peat deposits; in particular, those designing and undertaking works (and/or applying for grants), and those awarding grants. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Land-owners and managers (e.g. private individuals – including tenants and commoners, The Crown Estate, and charities such as the National Trust) and their representative membership organisations (e.g. National Farmers’ Union, The Moorland Association, The Country Land and Business Association), including those undertaking re-wilding schemes
• peatland organisations and partnerships, and special interest groups (e.g. IUCN UK Peatland Programme)
• natural environment and wildlife organisations and partnerships, howsoever funded, for example i) public bodies e.g. Defra, Natural England, Environment Agency, Forestry Commission, Rural Payments Agency, ii) charities e.g. Wildlife Trusts, RSPB, and iii) community groups.
• those involved with water supply and/or management (e.g. water utility companies, Internal Drainage Boards)
• Commons’ associations
• land agents
• ground works contractors carrying out the on-site restoration schemes
• archaeological contractors carrying out on-site archaeological investigations and recording
• historic environment stakeholders (e.g. local planning authority (LPA) archaeologists, archaeologists specifying or undertaking work to inform restoration)
• local authorities, National Parks, and National Landscapes
• funders of peatland restoration e.g. government, charities, private sector finance

1.4 The benefits of collaborative working

Close collaboration between natural and historic environment stakeholders is vital to ensure that mutual objectives during peatland investigations and restoration works are achieved – both in terms of the immediate works being undertaken, and in the context of ensuring longer term peatland health (i.e. condition, stability, and function – see Figure 2). For peatland heritage, this means recognising and integrating the historic environment, in all its forms, from the outset.

Working together collaboratively will have multiple benefits for the peatlands themselves (both archaeology and nature conservation), for the archaeologists, the peatland contractors, and the wider public. This includes the following positive outcomes for peatlands and their heritage, for project management, and for the public understanding of peatlands.

1.4.1 Benefits for peatlands and their heritage

Holistic consideration of the works and their potential impacts will help in:

• ensuring better outcomes for recognising the natural, culture and heritage capitals of peatlands, and protecting these for the longer term
• developing and communicating mutually beneficial agendas in ecology and cultural heritage
• avoiding unintentional or unnecessary degradation or removal of the heritage resources, particularly if they can be retained and preserved

It is important to share information to gain a multidisciplinary understanding of a site, past and present; for example, by working with specialists to produce new mutually beneficial datasets. In particular, understanding a site’s history, growth, and development is important to provide data on:

• using palaeoenvironmental or historical records to better inform site restoration trajectories and targets; such as recognising what a well-restored site might look like in that particular setting, especially in terms of its biodiversity, hydrology, and carbon accumulation rates/characteristics and capabilities
• recognising how these systems have shifted and fluctuated in the past, as well as the role of anthropogenic versus natural drivers, thereby understanding and demonstrating a site’s (eco)system adaptations and potential resiliencies, and
• challenging conceptions of shifting baseline syndrome and highlighting opportunities for activities such as re-wetting or species (re-)introductions

1.4.2 Benefits for managing peatland projects

By working closely together, commonalities between the natural and historic environment sectors are identified, relationships are established, and professional links strengthened.

• Sharing knowledge about causes of peat degradation and ways of addressing them, and on understanding a site in the context of its longer-term development, all help to ensure that the most appropriate, sustainable restoration technique is used
• Careful, co-ordinated planning helps avoid increased costs and time delays, and ensures the most-efficient use of resources (time and money); budgets can be realistically set from the outset
• Sharing knowledge can avoid repeating work unnecessarily (e.g. by using existing data), thereby saving time and money
• Recording information on recent/current interventions and works will ensure these aspects of a site’s history are fully captured, ensuring better understanding of a site in the future

1.4.3 Benefits for public understanding of peatlands

The historic environment represents a largely under-exploited aspect of peatland restoration programmes in terms of public engagement, outreach and education. Collaborative working across sectors presents opportunities for:

• increasing public understanding of peatlands, by instilling a broader appreciation of the public value of peatlands’ natural and cultural capitals, which includes their value and importance for cultural heritage
• identifying and realising opportunities for public engagement (e.g. participatory activities (Figure 3), augmented reality (e.g. the Welsh Lost Peatlands Explorer App), providing content for site signage) to help people ‘connect’ with peatlands
• conveying site histories to the public through ‘storytelling’, bringing together the human/cultural and natural components
• helping people understand traditional management regimes, and challenge those that might no longer be appropriate
• helping people re-evaluate preconceptions of ‘unchanging landscapes’, in order to accept changes that might be:
  • necessary: for example, extant historical drainage ditches, or old peat cuttings, are often considered key features of an area’s landscape character, even though their function is detrimental to the peat’s survival and their form is likely to have altered since their original construction, and/or
  • inevitable: for example, vegetation patterns are dynamic and reflective of natural processes
• helping acceptance of certain consequences of restoration projects, such as: i) that rewetting can affect access to an archaeological site, or ii) that by ceasing grazing, sward height might increase and reduce an archaeological site’s visibility
• helping peatland restorers accept that restoration has certain consequences for the historic environment that should be mitigated and that this mitigation may have a cost.

Back to contents | Planning the Works