Archaeology and the Landscape

The Island’s landscape has been shaped and modified by human hand for over 10,000 years. It bears witness to centuries of settlement, agriculture, industry, conflict, religion and ritual from prehistory to the present day. The story of our past is woven into its fabric – in Neolithic and Bronze Age tombs, Roman villas, Saxon settlements, medieval villages, Victorian holiday resorts and the defences of World War II.

Many monuments survive in visible form. As well as enriching our landscape, they contribute to tourism, education and recreation. On the Isle of Wight, 203 monuments currently have the benefit of legal protection as Scheduled Monuments. It is a criminal offence to damage a scheduled monument. This includes carrying out works without the consent of English Heritage.

The Archaeology and Historic Environment Service administers grant aid on behalf of English Heritage to assist landowners in improving the management or presentation of their Scheduled Monuments.




Archaeological sites which are not Scheduled Monuments are protected by the planning process. Many of these sites lie buried and some can only be detected by means of aerial photography, but all are potentially important in enlightening this and future generations through research and interpretation.






The continuing process of urban and rural development, if inadequately informed at the planning stage, can sometimes lead to conflict between the needs of development and those of conservation. As the pace of development quickens, a growing number of people and organisations are finding themselves in need of advice on how to deal with archaeology when developing or managing land.




The Isle of Wight Historic Environment Action Plan (HEAP) helps to explain how our historic landscapes have been changed over time and also contains objectives and actions to help us all manage the landscapes for future generations.