DEPARTMENT FOR
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS News Release (038-07) issued by The
Government News Network on 5 April 2007
New guidance aimed
at preserving the 70,000-plus war memorials in England and Wales
has been published today.
Many are in a good state of repair but some, often those on
private property, could be at risk and may even be destroyed
through a lack of awareness if they are not properly maintained.
War Memorials in England and Wales - Guidance for Custodians,
produced by the Department for Constitutional Affairs, replaces
the code of practice issued by the Home Office in 2002.
The updated guidance explains how grants can be obtained from
English Heritage and War Memorials Trust. Grants can contribute to
conservation and repair bills, as well as paying for additional
names and correcting errors. In Wales, custodians can apply to
Cadw, part of the National Assembly, for funding.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport makes grants to
charities and faith groups, equivalent to the VAT incurred on
construction, renovation and maintenance of eligible memorials.
Ownership of a war memorial may vary according to circumstances.
The new guidance makes clear any physical object erected or
dedicated to commemorate those killed as a result of armed
conflict should be regarded as a war memorial. The guidance also
addresses memorials to civilian casualties and animals.
To ensure war memorials are recognised as such and cared for in
the future, it is recommended custodians search written or
photographic records and libraries and records offices to find out
if there are any memorials in or around their buildings or land.
Since 1989, the UK National Inventory of War Memorials has
recorded the details of about 60,000 monuments.
As well as funding, maintenance, identification and ownership of
memorials, the guidance covers removal and relocation and access
to them.
Notes to Editors:
1. War Memorials in England and Wales -
Guidance for Custodians is available free from the DCA website -
http://www.dca.gov.uk and by
e-mailing coroners@dca.gsi.gov.uk
2. On its front cover, the leaflet features the Clitheroe War
Memorial in Lancashire that remembers the dead of the Boer War,
the Great War and Lance Corporal David Moon, killed in Northern
Ireland in 1972.
3. More information on war memorials in the United Kingdom can be
obtained from the websites of War Memorials Trust, the UK National
Inventory of War Memorials and Cadw - http://www.warmemorials.org;
http://www.ukniwm.org.uk; and
http://www.cadw.wales.gov.uk.
4. The DCA took over responsibility for issuing war memorial
guidance from the Home Office in 2005.
http://www.dca.gov.uk