The course will provide key knowledge and tools for the practical and appropriate management of historic buildings and sites for owners, managers, statutory advisers/officers and other historic built environment specialists.
Subjects will include:

• Protected species
• Types of survey and their timeframes
• Priority habitats, including trees and how these interact with monuments and structures
• The control of “problem” and invasive plant and animal species

The implications of legislation for the management of historic buildings and sites and the broader contextual issues of climate change and adaptation will be core to the teaching with speakers sharing their own specific professional experience. The course will offer an introduction to current and future agri- environmental grant schemes with capacity to benefit the historic environment and a presentation on historic designed landscapes and how they can help glue built and natural environment considerations together.

What students need to bring

Please remember to bring walking shoes/boots, waterproof clothing, a torch and umbrella for the Bat Walk and site visits.

Please note that minor amendments may be required to content (primarily sequence and duration of lectures). These will be confirmed in the final timetable to be issued a fortnight prior to commencement of the course.

Day 1 - Monday 1 June 2026
2.00pm-2.30pm: Arrive, course registration and check-in
2.45pm-3.30pm: Welcome and introduction to the course and other delegates (with Course Leader)
3.30pm-4.00pm: Tea and coffee
4.00pm-5.00pm: Lecture. Introduction to caring for the ecological significance of heritage buildings and their sites and the legislative framework (ecology)
7.00pm-8.00pm: Dinner
8.00pm-9.00pm: Evening lecture. The legislative framework: Heritage legislation refresh

Day 2 - Tuesday 2 June 2026
9.00am-12.30pm Lecture sessions (with tea and coffee break mid-morning) Lecture. Protected species considerations for scheduled monument management
Lecture. Key problem species and how to manage them
12.30pm-1.30pm: Lunch
1.30pm-4.00pm: Lectures (with tea and coffee break mid-afternoon) Lecture. Climate change and implications for site management Lecture. Bats in historic buildings
7.00pm-8.00pm: Dinner
8.00pm-9.00pm Evening site visit. Bat walk on the West Dean Estate.

Day 3 - Wednesday 3 June 2026
9.00am-12.30pm Lecture sessions (with tea and coffee break mid-morning) Lecture. Trees in the historic environment and trees and scheduled monuments. Lecture. Grassland ecology and management (part classroom based and part site based)
12.30pm-1.30pm: Lunch
1.30pm-2.30pm: Lecture: Conserving ruined masonry walls: Historic England research into the use of soft capping and ivy. Includes a visit to the West Dean ruinette
2.30pm-5.30pm:  Site visits on West Dean Estate: Devil's Jumps – Five Bell Barrows (Scheduled Monument and Local Nature Reserve) illustrating different grassland flora and scrub and management techniques; West Dean station – a partly ruined private Victorian station with ornamental structures and eroded brick, concrete and stonework illustrating a wide range of micro-habitats for flora and fauna and opportunities for development and increased public access.

Day 4 - Thursday 4 June 2026
9.00am-12.30pm Lecture sessions (with tea and coffee break mid-morning) Lecture. Natural England’s role and the benefits of agri-environment schemes for the historic environment
Lecture. Historic designed landscapes as the glue.
12.30pm-1.30pm Lunch Practical Exercise. Ecological Assessment, based on structures within the West Dean Estate
3.30pm: Issue certificates and depart

Terms & Conditions