Managing Maritime Heritage in International Waters - Scoping Day

On 22 January 2013 the British Academy and the Honor Frost Foundation held an event to discuss UK government policy on the protection of underwater heritage in international waters.

The intention of the day was to discuss the current state of research and policy in the area of maritime heritage, in order for the British Academy and the Honor Frost Foundation to be able to identify ‘gaps’ where any research they might synthesise or commission can add value, and what any research could and should seek to achieve in bringing about policy change by the UK.

This forum also helped to shape a future programme of work on underwater heritage from the British Academy Policy Centre and the Honor Frost Foundation. The steering group to oversee this programme is made up of:

• Sir Barry Cunliffe CBE FBA, Emeritus Professor of European Archaeology, University of Oxford


• Dr John Curtis OBE FBA, Chair of the Honor Frost Foundation


• Robert Yorke, Chair of the Joint Nautical Archaeology Policy Committee

The two morning scene setting sessions covered what the current situation is in policy and research, and its strengths and limitations. These discussions paved the way for a more detailed discussion of ways forward/change needed in UK policy in the afternoon, using the preliminary conclusions of an Impact Review on the implications for the UK of ratifying the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage 2001 as a starting point.

List of participants

Professor Jon Adams, University of Southampton
Mark Beattie-Edwards, Nautical Archaeology Society
Andrea Blick, UK National Commission for UNESCO
Dr Lucy Blue, University of Southampton
Alison Cathie, Honor Frost Foundation Trustee
Robert Cousins, Department for Transport
Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe FBA, University of Oxford
Dr John Curtis FBA, Honor Frost Foundation & British Museum
Professor Sarah Dromgoole, University of Nottingham
Mark Dunkley, English Heritage
Dr Antony Firth, Fjordr Limited
John Gribble, Sea Change Heritage Consultants
Dr Ulrike Guérin, Secretariat of the 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, UNESCO 
Helen Haggart, British Academy
Tom Hassall, Historic Wrecks Panel, English Heritage
Robert Yorke, Joint Nautical Archaeology Policy Committee
Dr Mike Heyworth, Council for British Archaeology
Steve Hunt, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Gillian Hutchinson, National Maritime Museum
Dr Robin Jackson, British Academy
Elie Jarmache, Secrétariat général de la mer, French Government
Alison Kentuck, Receiver of the Wreck, Maritime and Coastguard Agency
John Lewis, Society of Antiquaries of London
Joan Porter MacIver, Honor Frost Foundation
Jane Maddocks, British Sub-Aqua Club
Emma Mckay, British Academy
Dr Adrian Olivier, Nautical Archaeology Society
Ian Oxley, English Heritage
David Parham, University of Bournemouth
Dr Marnix Pieters, Flanders Heritage Agency
Dr Venetia Porter, Honor Frost Foundation Trustee & British Museum
Professor Lord Colin Renfrew FBA, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research
Philip Robertson, Historic Scotland
Louise Savill, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Matt Skelhorn, Ministry of Defence
Nicola Smith, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Steve Trow, English Heritage
Chris Whomersley, Foreign and Commonwealth Office