The Lake District and UNESCO World Heritage Status

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Castlerigg Stone Circle © David Gill

The Lake District in north-west England was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017 [UNESCO]. The listing notes, “a distinctive cultural landscape which is outstanding in its harmonious beauty, quality, integrity and on-going utility and its demonstration of human interaction with the environment”.

The Save the Lake District group wishes to protect this internationally recognised landscape from any further damage. The group is calling on the Lake District National Park to take steps to protect this fragile environment. The issue surrounds the use of the so-called ‘Green Roads‘.

The concerns are covered by the BBC: “Lake District authority ‘violating World Heritage status’“, BBC News 14 April 2018.

Castlerigg Stone Circle

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Castlerigg Stone Circle © David Gill

Castlerigg stone circle in Cumbria was placed in state guardianship by General Pitt-Rivers in 1883 along with a number of other prehistoric monuments (e.g. King Arthur’s Round Table; Mayburgh Henge; Nine Ladies in Derbyshire). This decision came in the wake of the Ancient Monuments Act (1882).

The site is now managed by the National Trust.

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