National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens

The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England under the provisions of the National Heritage Act 1983. Over 1,600 sites are listed, ranging from the grounds large stately homes to small domestic gardens, as well other designed landscapes such as town squares, public parks and cemeteries.

The register aims to "celebrate designed landscapes of note, and encourage appropriate protection", so safeguarding the features and qualities of key landscapes for the future. It is hoped that listing sites of special interest will increase awareness of their value and encourage those who own them, or who have a part to play in their protection, to treat the sites with due care, whether this is a question of carrying out appropriate maintenance or making changes to the site.

If a park of garden has been registered using the designation process under the 1983 National Heritage Act it has legal protection. Registration is a material consideration in the planning process so, following a planning application for development which would affect a registered park or garden, local planning authorities must take into account the historic interest of the site when deciding whether or not to grant permission for any changes. Although the inclusion brings no additional statutory controls in itself, English local authorities are required by government to take the protection of the historic environment into account in their policies and resource allocations. If material changes are made to a registered park or garden without having been granted planning permission first, local planning authorities may require that the changes are undone, and in extreme cases a prosecution may result.

The register is also used in influencing management decisions, to improve public awareness of important parks and elements within them and to encourage their owners to preserve and maintain them. Gardening and landscape design have long been important preoccupations to the British and although a wealth of historic parks and gardens exist, they are a fragile and finite resource: they can easily be damaged beyond repair or lost forever.

Since 1995, the Garden History Society has been a statutory consultee in relation to planning proposals which affect historic designed landscapes identified by Historic England as being of national significance, and which are included on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. This means that when a planning authority receives a planning application which affects a site on the Register, or the setting of such a site, the planning authority must consult the Garden History Society. This applies to registered sites of all grades. In addition, Historic England must be consulted where a planning proposal affects a site which is included on the Register at Grade I or Grade II*.

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