Durham Castle and Cathedral is a World Heritage Site. As such it is required to work according to a Management plan. Currently this is under revision and a public consultation is reviving the community

Durham Castle and Cathedral World Heritage Site is one of 29 in the UK and only 1031 globally. UNESCO manages the WHS list and requires that they should have a management plan Durham’s first plan was published in 2006 and it now needs updating. A new draft plan has been produced and the WHS Committee is carrying out a consultation on its proposals. The consultation will follow immediately after the traditional celebration of St. Cuthbert, taking place on the days leading up to and on the 19th of March 2016.

The consultation runs from 15th February to 18th April 2016. The Draft Management Plan can be accessed using the navigation on the left, or you can download the full document as a PDF (15Mb).

The 2006 Management Plan was the first and covered important essential aspects of management such as the site boundaries and coordination, examples are the inclusion of Palace Green and the establishment of a Coordinating Committee, both of which were achieved.

After reviewing the 2006 Plan the draft Plan looks in greater detail at what contributes to the Outstanding Universal Value of the site – this is the way that UNESCO describes what makes a site significant. It covers research, the relationship of the site to its surroundings and its cultural traditions.

In this, the plan is dedicated to envision Durham as so much more than “just” a couple of iconic buildings and a unique townscape. It is also a thriving community living in a very beautiful setting. The question is: how best to preserve this in its totality at a time when architects and business developers are keen to find ways of encroaching upon the land? Should a new buffer-zone be implemented? This question seems especially pertinent since the iconic tower of the Cathedral may be seen from more than 20 km afar.  Another challenge seems to be the lack of coordination between different stakeholders – Cathedral, University, City – in the management of Durham as a WHS.

The draft Management Plan aims to:

• Describe the Site’s attributes
• Describe who might use the site
• Describe the Site’s intangible heritage – the ways in which people have lived, worked, worshipped and studied on this site for
• over 1,000 years’
• Protect the site through greater understanding including its setting
• Outline a research framework
• Set out actions for the next 6 years in an action plan

Who is involved in the preparation of the Plan?

The management Plan was produced under the editorial leadership of the World Heritage Site Coordinator on behalf of the World Heritage Site Committee.  Members of the Committee contributed to the Plan with assistance from Durham County Council, the Institute of Modern and Early Medieval Studies and volunteers.

FEATURED PHOTO:

Durham regatta: University College in Durham Durham versus Newcastle University. Source: Wikipedia