Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979

2 Control of works affecting scheduled monuments

(1) If any person executes or causes or permits to be executed any works to which this section applies he shall be guilty of an offence unless the works are authorised under this Part of this Act.

(2) This section applies to any of the following works, that is to say—

(a) any works resulting in the demolition or destruction of or any damage to a scheduled monument;

(b) any works for the purpose of removing or repairing a scheduled monument or any part of it or of making any alterations or additions thereto ; and

(c) any flooding or tipping operations on land in, on or under which there is a scheduled monument.

(3) Without prejudice to any other authority to execute works conferred under this Part of this Act, works to which this section applies are authorised under this Part of this Act if—

(a) the Secretary of State has granted written consent (referred to below in this Act as " scheduled monument consent ") for the execution of the works; and

(b) the works are executed in accordance with the terms of the consent and of any conditions attached to the consent.

(4) Scheduled monument consent may be granted either unconditionally or subject to conditions (whether with respect to the manner in which or the persons by whom the works or any of the works are to be executed or otherwise).

(5) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (4) above, a condition attached to a scheduled monument consent may require that the Secretary of State or a person authorised by the Secretary of State be afforded an opportunity, before any works to which the consent relates are begun, to examine the monument and its site and carry out such excavations therein as appear to the Secretary of State to be desirable for the purpose of archaeological investigation.

(6) Without prejudice to subsection (1) above, if a person executing or causing or permitting to be executed any works to which a scheduled monument consent relates fails to comply with any condition attached to the consent he shall be guilty of an offence, unless he proves that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid contravening the condition.

(7) In any proceedings for an offence under this section in relation to works within subsection (2)(a) above it shall be a defence for the accused to prove that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid or prevent damage to the monument.

(8) In any proceedings for an offence under this section in relation to works within subsection (2)(a) or (c) above it shall be a defence for the accused to prove that he did not know and had no reason to believe that the monument was within the area affected by the works or (as the case may be) that it was a scheduled monument.

(9) In any proceedings for an offence under this section it shall be a defence to prove that the works were urgently necessary in the interests of safety or health and that notice in writing of the need for the works was given to the Secretary of State as soon as reasonably practicable.

(10) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction or, in Scotland, on conviction before a court of summary jurisdiction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum ; or

(b) on conviction on indictment to a fine.

(11) Part I of Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect with respect to applications for, and the effect of, scheduled monument consent.