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You are here: World Heritage Management > Hadrian's Wall Management Plan > Policies and Actions

Policies and Actions

These are the policies that have been adopted as a central part of the Management Plan for 2015-19. Many - but not all - of the Policies have one or more associated Actions that have already been identified. Some indication of their relative priority is provided by assigning them tentatively to specific Years in the Plan period. (Year 1 = 2015; Year 2 = 2016, etc.) Inevitably, these will be subject to change. Further Actions are likely to be added in due course. Unless otherwise specified, reference here to the World Heritage Site is to the Hadrian’s Wall component of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site (FRE). ‘The OUV’ means the Outstanding Universal Value of the World Heritage Site.

Management of the World Heritage Site

Objective 1: Informed management of the Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site, successfully communicating UNESCO’s universal values.

Policy 1a:  Opportunities should be taken to raise awareness of World Heritage, and of UNESCO’s values and aspirations.

  • Action: Develop a local design guide for the use of the UNESCO logo (in line with UNESCO’s Operational Guidelines) which should include a summary of UNESCO values. Year 1

Policy 1b: Hadrian’s Wall should contribute to the development of common standards of identification, recording, research, protection, conservation, management, presentation, promotion, and understanding of each component part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.

  • Action: Contribute to the adoption of a common Management Plan framework to be instigated at partners’ scheduled revisions. Year 5
  • Action: Agree a common terminology or glossary, aiding communication and complementary management. Year 1
  • Action: The Coordinator will support, attend, and contribute to the World Heritage Site Management Group and the Bratislava Group, as appropriate. Years 1-5

Policy 1c: An overall conservation framework should be focused on the management of the OUV of the Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site, taking account, where appropriate, of natural heritage designations and the historic and current landscape.

  • Action: Identify best practice towards the development of an overall conservation framework. Year 3

Policy 1d: Active research and data analysis should underpin the management of the World Heritage Site. 

  • Action: Identify, collate, and analyse necessary sources of data from across all appropriate sectors. Years 2-5
  • Action: Create an integrated data management system for the World Heritage Site in conjunction with national and international partners. Years 2-3

Policy 1e: The Management Plan should be a dynamic document, periodically reviewed within UNESCO timetables, which provides a framework for action. Any changes to the Plan must be agreed by the Programme Board, and the reasons for these should be carefully documented and communicated.

  • Action: Review Management Plan annually, documenting and communicating any amendments whenever significant change occurs. Years 2-5
  • Action: Conduct a wholesale review in 2019, constructing a new document for the next plan period. Year 5

Policy 1f: The Partnership Board will accept responsibility for the Plan and ownership of it, delegating action to the Delivery Groups.

Policy 1g:  The Delivery Groups will consult widely, if appropriate.  

  • Action: Establish and maintain a consultation database. Year 1
  • Action: Explore and encourage community involvement with the World Heritage Site. Year 2

Policy 1h: Partnership Board reports on the development and implementation of the Plan should be regular and accessible.

  • Action: Update Hadrian’s Wall Management Plan website on a regular basis. Years 1-5
  • Action: Produce a regular e-newsletter/report Years 1-5

The Boundaries of the World Heritage Site and its Buffer Zone

Objective 2: To maintain appropriate boundaries of the World Heritage Site, encompassing those elements of the Roman frontier that reflect the Site's OUV, and to document clearly those additional features that still fall outside the World Heritage Site.

Policy 2a: Any areas proposed as an extension of the boundaries of the World Heritage Site will meet the test of authenticity and integrity set out within an authoritative statement of the Site’s OUV and must have relevant legal protection and management arrangements.

Policy 2b: Changes to the boundaries that would require full re-nomination will not be considered.

Policy 2c: The boundaries of the Buffer Zone agreed for the 2002-07 Management Plan will remain unchanged for the period of this Management Plan.

Policy 2d: All appropriate opportunities should be taken to signal and explain significance and boundaries of the World Heritage Site.

Protection of the World Heritage Site

Objective 3: To protect the OUV of the World Heritage Site, using appropriate legislation, planning policy, guidance and management measures.

Policy 3a: When considering proposals for development, local planning authorities should ensure that they protect or better reveal the significance of the OUV of the World Heritage Site, through the adoption and application of high standards of decision-making, that are consistent throughout the World Heritage Site.

  • Action: Run an annual Local Authority Planning meeting to share best practice (and World Heritage Site case studies), to be implemented whenever possible. Year 2
  • Action: Encourage regular sharing in the World Heritage Site web space. Years 1-5

Policy 3b: Local Authorities should assess development proposals for their impact on the OUV. They should consult with appropriate expert advisors and, where necessary, should require applicants to commission further information, in line with ICOMOS guidance on Heritage Impact Assessment. Development adversely affecting the OUV should not normally be permitted, and should take into account the advice in the National Planning Policy Framework.

Policy 3c: Legal protection of sites in the World Heritage Site should be reviewed in line with new discoveries – and where possible, anomalies should be brought into line - taking into account the level of threat.

Policy 3d: Those managing assets under other consent regimes should take the OUV of the World Heritage Site into account.

Protection of Undesignated Archaeological Remains

Objective 4: To maintain effective protection and management of the undesignated remains of the Roman frontier.

Policy 4a: Local Planning Authorities should protect or better reveal all those elements of the Roman frontier that relate to the OUV of the World Heritage Site, whether or not these are designated for protection.

Policy 4b: Local Planning Authorities should not permit new development on open spaces within the Wall corridor which contribute to the OUV.

Policy 4c: Areas that offer significant monument legibility, such as street- and settlement patterns, and which help people to interpret and appreciate the Wall where it is not visible, should be protected and enhanced.

  • Action: Develop and implement interpretive community heritage projects to engage with communities and to highlight the line of the frontier. Year 3

Policy 4d: Where archaeological intervention is justified and cannot be avoided, Local Authorities should, as part of the Planning process, require from a developer full funding for the conservation and cataloguing of finds and for publication, archiving, and public interpretation. Where appropriate, they should also be required to fund fully the conservation of structures excavated as a result of development.

  • Action: Audit the achievements of develop- funded activity over the last twenty years, building on the work done for the Research Framework. Year 3

Metal Detecting

Objective 5: To protect the World Heritage Site and Buffer Zone from damage as a result of inappropriate metal detecting.

Policy 5a: Metal detecting within the World Heritage Site and its Buffer Zone will not be permitted except in line with Historic England guidelines and as part of a recognised and properly resourced research project.

  • Action: In partnership with the Portable Antiquities Scheme, Historic England, and the Police, prepare and action a campaign of information directed at the public and the detector community. Year 2

Risk Preparedness and Disaster Management

Objective 6: To pre-empt, where possible, direct and indirect threats to the OUV.

Policy 6a: The Historic England specialist adviser for the Wall will be the key contact for the local Resilience Fora.

Policy 6b: Emergency planners should be aware of the World Heritage Site, and emergency services should take it into account in their response to an incident.

  • Action: Promote use of the World Heritage Site for scenario training by the emergency services to aid familiarisation. Year 1
  • Action: Annually check/update Local Resilience Fora with contact details. Years 1-5

Policy 6c: In disaster management, resort will be made to archaeological intervention, informed by the Hadrian’s Wall Research Framework, only if the preservation of archaeological remains in situ is not possible.

Policy 6d: Management of the World Heritage Site will take account of the likely effects of climate change that might threaten the OUV.

  • Action: Promote research on how the World Heritage Site might be affected by climate change, and how this might be mitigated. Year 2-5

Policy 6e: Managers in the World Heritage Site should aim to reduce their carbon emissions by the implementation of energy-efficient measures and should adopt effective policies aimed at environmental sustainability.

Conservation of Archaeological Sites

Objective 7: To manage the archaeological remains in the World Heritage Site in a way that ensures their continued enjoyment by this and future generations.

Policy 7a: There should be regular monitoring of the condition of all elements of the World Heritage Site, and maintenance should be prioritised accordingly.

  • Action: Further develop and review an effective volunteer monitoring programme for the World Heritage Site. Year 1-5
  • Action: Establish a process for the identification and implementation of priority work. Year 1

Policy 7b: All necessary steps should be taken to remove from the Historic England Heritage at Risk Register any element of the World Heritage Site that is deemed to be at high risk.

  • Action: By the end of the Plan period, take the steps required to remove from the Heritage at Risk Register every part of the World Heritage Site currently at high risk. Year 3-5

Policy 7c:  The use of ‘generic consents’ should be developed, wherever appropriate, for the conservation of the OUV of the World Heritage Site, and to minimise delays to non-damaging works.

Policy 7d: Conservation and repair work carried out in the World Heritage Site should always adhere to best conservation practice.

Policy 7e: As a precautionary principle, any element of the World Heritage Site that is under cultivation should be considered at risk.

  • Action: Encourage research to draw together and build on the best practice in conservation for the World Heritage Site identified in sources such as the Raphael Project report, especially for those elements under arable cultivation. Year 3

Rural Land Management

Objective 8: To achieve a sustainable balance whereby the OUV can be conserved within current and future land use.

Policy 8a: The implementation of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme should be supported across the World Heritage Site wherever this protects or better reveals the OUV.

  • Action: Monitor the implementation of Countryside Stewardship, and prioritise the mitigation of risk accordingly. Year 2
  • Action: Undertake volunteer task-days as a programme of interventions addressing key issues of site maintenance. Year 2 

Policy 8b: The maintenance of the OUV is paramount, but agricultural viability and the sustainability of woodland management should be taken into account in assessing and managing the effects of agriculture and arboriculture on vulnerable sites throughout the World Heritage Site.

Policy 8c: The contribution of traditional land-based industries to the economy of the World Heritage Site should be recognised, and opportunities should be sought for land managers to maximise the benefits from their association with the World Heritage Site so long as this is not detrimental to the OUV.

  • Action: Highlight opportunities for farmers and land managers to maximise their benefit from the World Heritage Site. Year 2

Archaeological Research

Objective 9: To develop and maintain a programme of research, in line with the recommendations of the Hadrian’s Wall Research Framework, the results of which must be publicly accessible and inform understanding of the World Heritage Site.


Policy 9a: The Archaeological Research Framework will be kept under review, and the priorities identified within it should be promulgated and supported.

  • Action: Review and update the Research Framework. Year 3-5

Policy 9b: Whenever possible, organisations and individuals engaged in research along the Wall will work in partnership and will co-ordinate their activities, taking the Research Framework fully into account

Policy 9c:  Wherever possible, non-invasive methods of archaeological investigation should be used in preference to excavation.

Policy 9d: Unless there are exceptional circumstances, archaeological excavation will only take place where there is full provision for post-excavation work, for publication, archiving, and for the conservation of finds.

Policy 9e: Archaeological research in the World Heritage Site should recognise the context of the natural, historical, and current landscapes.

Policy 9f: Wherever possible, opportunities should be sought to engage local people and visitors in the research process.

  • Action: Identify and initiate opportunities for further community archaeology programmes, throughout the World Heritage Site. Year 2

Sustainable Transport and Physical Access

Objective 10: To develop and to maintain an integrated range of sustainable options for transport and access to and along the World Heritage Site.

Policy 10a:  The provision and use of sustainable transport to and within the World Heritage Site should be actively promoted.

  • Action: Review best practice in sustainable transport solutions. Year 1
  • Action: Draw together a sustainable transport strategy for the World Heritage Site. Year 2

Policy 10b: Access to the World Heritage Site should be as inclusive as possible.

  • Action: Coordinate an access audit for key locations on the World Heritage Site so as to identify areas for further enhancement. Year 2

Policy 10c: Site managers should consider offering incentives to those visitors who travel to their sites using public transport.

  • Action: Trial and evaluate a travel incentive scheme. Year 3

Policy 10d: Accessibility for coach services should be improved where this can be done without detriment to the OUV of the Site.

Policy 10e: The greater use of rail services should be promoted as a means of improving access to the World Heritage Site.

  • Action: Explore with railway operators the potential for targeted marketing on lines serving the World Heritage Site. Year 4

Policy 10f: The National Trail Partnership should invest adequate resources, and should prioritise works, to maintain the Trail as a grass sward to protect the archaeology underfoot and the setting of the World Heritage Site.

Policy 10g:  Options should be further developed to broaden the choice of subsidiary routes for walkers, and  for organised events,  (thus spreading any access pressures across the World Heritage Site) and to improve the quality of their experience.

Policy 10h: Hadrian’s Cycleway should be promoted, and steps taken to improve the experience of those using it.

  • Action: Encourage and, if possible implement, research on the use and experience of the cycleway. Year 2

Policy 10i: An integrated strategy for signage within the World Heritage Site should be agreed and implemented.

  • Action: Review previous orientation signage strategies and coordinate the implementation of provision. Year 4

Developing the Visitor Experience and Understanding of the World Heritage Site

Objective 11: To establish and to maintain an international reputation for a range of first-class visitor experiences at attractions that offer good facilities, and diversified, integrated interpretation that is accessible, relevant and challenging to a wide range of audiences.

Policy 11a: Investment in visitor facilities and interpretation should enhance understanding and engagement with the OUV and should aim to provide high-quality products that maximise the enjoyment, understanding and appreciation of the World Heritage Site.

Policy 11b: Those considering investment should consider whether cooperation with others, to mutual benefit, would be more cost-effective and would secure wider benefit for the World Heritage Site than direct competition.

  • Action: Evaluate, coordinate, and trial joint ticketing promotions. Year 3-5

Policy 11c: All World Heritage Site museums should meet national accreditation standards and aspire to exceed them.

Policy 11d:  Interpretation of the World Heritage Site must be based on authoritative and up-to date information; it should explain the meaning and significance of each place, be thought-provoking, and engender greater enjoyment of and care for the heritage by the visitor.

  • Action: Identify and disseminate the strands of new research that should underpin any revised interpretation scheme. Year 1-5

Policy 11e: Any proposal for physical reconstruction must follow Historic England guidelines and take into account the UNESCO decisions and policy on this issue.

Policy 11f: The use of virtual reconstruction should be promoted where appropriate.

  • Action: Assess and collate existing resources of virtual reconstruction. Year 2
  • Action: Explore further opportunities for virtual reconstruction and share best practice across the FRE. Year 3 

Sustainable Development and Prosperity

Objective 12: To ensure that World Heritage Site status contributes to the local and regional economies.

Policy 12a: The World Heritage Site should be used to assist in the sustainable economic development of the local area and should be an inspirational agent for change, contributing to the sustainability of the OUV.

Policy 12b: Whenever possible, organisations involved in the World Heritage Site should source local products and promote local produce to visitors.

Policy 12c: Relevant and appropriate initiatives that are likely to enhance and increase the length of stay by visitors should be supported.

Policy 12d: Initiatives that encourage environmentally sustainable provision of visitor facilities and services should be developed and supported.

Policy 12e: Relevant initiatives across the World Heritage Site that enable more individuals to participate in training, and thus to sustain and increase the level of their skills, will be supported.

Policy 12f: A comprehensive understanding of tourism markets and economic development as it relates to the World Heritage Site should be collated, maintained and shared.

  • Action: Establish and maintain bench-marked data for visitor trends across the whole World Heritage Site. Year 2

Engaging with Communities

Objective 13: To enable local and special-interest communities to be engaged with the World Heritage Site and to develop the contribution that the Site can make to community life.

Policy 13a: Opportunities for greater participation in, and engagement with, the World Heritage Site by local individuals, by supporters’ groups, and by communities, should be developed and implemented.

  • Action: Proactively encourage community projects and programmes to utilise and reference the World Heritage Site. Year 1

Policy 13b:  Managers in the World Heritage Site should engage with communities in order to gain a better understanding of their interests, skills and aspirations, especially during the planning of any new initiative.

  • Action: Benchmark existing initiatives and evaluate future opportunities for community engagement with the World Heritage Site. Year 1.

Policy 13c: The use of digital media for communication should be maximised and used to complement face-to-face discussion.

  • Action: Establish an online forum or network for communities and individuals to celebrate and discuss the World Heritage Site and to share experiences. Year 1.

Marketing the World Heritage Site

Objective 14: To maintain and enhance the attractiveness of the World Heritage Site as a destination for domestic and overseas visitors.

Policy 14a: Seasonal and coordinated marketing and communication should be used to facilitate visits and to increase the value of tourism in and around the World Heritage Site, while enhancing understanding of the OUV, of the steps taken for its care, and of World Heritage status.

  • Action: Establish a sustainable framework for the marketing of the World Heritage Site. Year 1
  • Action: Explore with partners a cross-FRE marketing project exploring the messages of World Heritage Site status and of UNESCO values. Year 4
  • Action: Include conservation themes and advice within marketing messages, using positive imagery. Year 1

Education & Learning

Objective 15: To ensure that high-quality learning opportunities, focused on different aspects of the World Heritage Site, are experienced by all audiences through appropriate and enjoyable provision.

Policy 15a: Opportunities to work in collaboration to develop learning provision - within the Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site and within the FRE - should be identified and implemented.

Policy 15b: The breadth and flexibility of the learning offer presented by the World Heritage Site should be kept under review so as to maximise the audiences and the depth of their understanding.

Policy 15c: An understanding of the learning aspirations and requirements of all relevant audiences should be researched, reviewed and understood.

Policy 15d: The opportunities offered by new technologies and by learners’ changing preferences for accessing learning should be explored and implemented.

Policy 15e: An understanding of the philosophy, operation, and effects of UNESCO World Heritage status should be promoted and should provide the context for learning.

  • Action: Develop a long-term education project that explores the potential for the delivery of positive cross-curricular education using UNESCO values.  Year 2     
  • Action: Promote affiliation to the UNESCO Schools network. Year 2
  • Action: Encourage and contribute to the development of a country-wide education programme based on World Heritage. Year 2