Resources

ICOMOS-UK Publications

ICOMOS-UK publishes work generated from contributions by its membership who are skilled heritage professionals, and from the membership of the various Committees. The publications are intended to provide specialised knowledge for those with an interest in aspects of tangible and intangible heritage.

We publish a bulletin every quarter, with each edition related to the work of an ICOMOS-UK Committee. Our aim is that more people will become involved, to contribute to the conservation and development of heritage, so if you have an idea for an article please do get in touch: admin@icomos-uk.org .

If you are interested in our Bulletin, please click here to subscribe.

The Summer 2023 edition of the Bulletin, on the theme of Intangible Cultural Heritage, can be found here.

If you are interested in our Intangible Heritage Committee’s ‘Exploring Intangible Cultural Heritage Report’, you can email us for a PDF of the report at admin@icomos-uk.org.

And you can also subscribe to our channel on Youtube, where you can find recordings of many of our events.

 

ICOMOS Documentation Centre

The ICOMOS Documentation Centre in Paris is open to anyone interested in the conservation and restoration of cultural heritage. ICOMOS members have priority access to the Documentation Centre.  It contains:

  • 40,000 titles on heritage worldwide
  • 400 periodicals
  • 25,000 slides, photographs and plans
  • Original nomination files of World Heritage Sites worldwide since 1978

You can visit the Documentation Centre (check the opening hours first), access the catalogue and the latest publications.

 

ICOMOS  Guidelines and Statements

ICOMOS Ethical Statement for ICOMOS members
This is an ethical commitment for ICOMOS members, which outlines an ICOMOS member’s practical responsibility towards cultural heritage and towards fellow members.

Policy for the Implementation of the World Heritage Mandate
This covers conflicts of interest in relation to ICOMOS and individuals working on World Heritage Site nominations or projects relating to World Heritage Sites

Guidance on Heritage Impact Assessments
This is Guidance for those commissioning Heritage Impact Assessments (HIAs) for World Heritage Sites, to help evaluate the impact of proposed development on the Outstanding Universal Value of properties.

The full Guidance and Toolkit document can be found here.

Other key ICOMOS charters, texts and guidelines are on the ICOMOS  international website.

Photographic Record of Views of London’s World Heritage Sites (London Views Project)

This project began in 2007 to make a photographic record of the London skyline around London’s four World Heritage Sites – the Tower of London, Westminster, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Maritime Greenwich.   Our Cultural Landscapes Committee was concerned that some of London’s most evocative views were in danger of being lost forever because of new buildings and developments.

We commissioned landscape photographer Gavin Kingcome to take images of all four World Heritage sites.  We wanted to:

  • Make the photos available for public use and scrutiny
  • Draw attention to the beauty of London’s World Heritage skyline

Publications available from ICOMOS-UK

Extract of dissertation titled:

‘Are the Building Regulations fit for the purpose of upgrading traditional, historic and listed buildings using modern applications in Wales?’

Disclaimer: the views expressed herein are those of the author; they do ne necessarily reflect the views of ICOMOS-UK

This appraisal is an extract of a MSc dissertation that focuses on the complex interrelations of concerns that the Building Regulations and supporting Approved Documents produced by the Welsh Government are not fit for purpose when carrying out building works to traditional, historic and listed buildings. The Approved Documents are held up as a means to question the suitability for their application and consequences if they are not, and what can be done to ensure they are fit for purpose.

This research was carried out by the report author who has 28 years’ experience in building control as a team leader and chartered building surveyor working for a Local Authority in England on the Welsh Boarder. […]

This report begins by describing the background to vapour permeable (breathable) construction and problems associated with upgrading traditional buildings using the Approved Document to the Building Regulations and recognises significant gaps in this legislation. It considers the drivers of change for making improvements to the Welsh building stock. It also considers case studies which draw out the consequences of applying modern methods of construction to traditional buildings. A literature review then follows to gain a better understanding of how scholars view the Building Regulations and Approved Documents. A questionnaire survey then assesses how the construction industry view the Approved Documents to the Building Regulations, followed by suggested solutions to the problems.

The report concludes with key findings and finds that the Building Regulations and supporting Approved Documents produced by the Welsh Government (and can equally be applied to England) are not fit for purpose when carrying out building works to traditional, historic building and listed buildings. Finally, there are recommendations on how the problems could be resolved without placing these important buildings or occupants at risk.

Author: Anthony Gwynne, MSc (Dist), MRICS, IHBC, MIFireE

Senior Building Control Surveyor

Anthony Gwynne has kindly allowed ICOMOS-UK to provide the full extract as a free download: click here to read it.

If you would like to have access to the full dissertation, please contact Anthony Gwynne at tony.gwynne@publicagroup.uk.

June 2020

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Exploring Intangible Cultural Heritage in Museum Contexts

ICOMOS-UK Intangible Cultural Heritage Committee (ICHC) is pleased to present this report of the pilot project Exploring Intangible Cultural Heritage in Museum Contexts. It is a collaborative developmental initiative between the ICHC and Arts Council England (ACE). The Report demonstrates the need for involvement of ICH practicing communities, and of artists as intermediaries between the diverse groups of bearers and cultural organisations, in order to forge an equitable tripartite curation that can make collections and museum spaces alive and relevant to contemporary society.

The framework for the project was based on UNESCO’s 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage – an international standard-setting instrument, which provides definitions of ICH for the safeguarding of intangible culture and the role of bearer communities.

Four museums, Hastings Museum & Art Gallery, Weald and Downland Living Museum, Museum of Cambridge, and Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery, rose to the challenge and volunteered to be part of the pilot. A bespoke methodology comprising two layers of processes were used to gauge museums’ level of awareness and knowledge of ICH, test the use of ICH as an interpretative tool, explore the role of artists as intermediaries to facilitate interactions between the practicing communities and museums, and establish what types of synergies and dynamics the threeway relationship could yield in curating collections in the museums and those held by the bearer communities.

The project was showcased at ICOMOS-UK’s ICH Committee’s conference of the 23rd of March
2019 focusing on safeguarding ICH – the passing on of our diverse living heritages to future generations.

Click here to read and download the full report.

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The Conservation Plan

A guide to the preparation of conservation plans for places of European cultural significance

James Semple Kerr ISBN: 1863640266

National Trust of Australia, 7th Edition 2013

Dr Kerr has kindly allowed Australia ICOMOS to provide The Conservation Plan as a free download:

http://australia.icomos.org/publications/the-conservation-plan/

To be a Pilgrim: Meeting the Needs of Visitors to Cathedrals and Churches in the United Kingdom

ICOMOS-UK Research Findings, 2001 ISBN: 0953535010

This publication is available as a free download. Please contact admin@icomos-uk.org

The Norwich Accord – Finding the Spirit of Place (2009)

This is a declaration articulating the relationship between conservation, communities and cultural tourism.  It is based on research and evidence gathered over a three-year period by the ICOMOS-UK Cultural Tourism Committee.

Implementing the European Landscape Convention (2006)

This booklet was published following an ICOMOS-UK and IUCN UK invited workshop in 2006.  It includes a ten-point action plan distilling key ideas from the workshop and suggests how opportunities presented by the European Landscape Convention might be put into practice.

Archive List of ICOMOS-UK Publications 1990 – 2001

This is a list of publications produced by ICOMOS-UK from 1990 to 2001. These publications are no longer for sale, but we may have archive copies for reference only.  Please contact  admin@icomos-uk.org

World Heritage

For information and links on World Heritage, please click here.