National Historic Ships publishes guidelines on recording and deconstruction of historic vessels
The Advisory Committee on National Historic Ships has today published on its website the first two volumes of its 'Understanding Historic Vessels' series.
Click on the images below to download the files: (PDF, 427 and 400KB)
Director of National Historic Ships, Martyn Heighton, stated
The United Kingdom is fortunate in possessing a magnificent collection of historic ships and boats, distributed widely throughout these islands, reflecting our rich maritime history and the many innovations in marine technology and design that have been produced here over the past few centuries. In these volumes, we aim to help vessel owners both to understand their vessels and to preserve the information about the vessel for the future.
The first volume, Recording, sets out how to go about creating a record which ensures that the quintessential characteristics of the vessel concerned are captured. It also offers guidance on how to preserve this record in a safe, effective and accessible way.
Unfortunately there are also occasions where vessels cannot survive: they are too dilapidated or too insignificant to justify the great cost of conservation, or there is no one willing to take on such projects. Yet the information they hold may be important, and to lose such vessels without saving this information would be to miss an irremediable opportunity to broaden our knowledge and to hold that knowledge for future generations. The second volume, Deconstruction, provides guidance on the options for what to do when a vessel can no long be saved so that she can be given an appropriate end and her history preserved.
The two volumes will be on the website for two months' consultation. Feedback from vessel owners and other stakeholders will be incorporated before a printed version is distributed in early 2008.
A third volume, Conserving Historic Vessels, will be published in Spring 2008.
Note for editors:
The Advisory Committee on National Historic Ships is an independent body sponsored by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and established in 2006. Its remit is to advise government on all policy and technical matters relating to historic vessels in the United Kingdom, to advise grant making bodies such as the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Grant Fund for the Preservation of Industrial and Scientific Material (PRISM Fund) on applications from historic vessels and to support and advise historic vessel owners on developing sustainable futures.
For further information contact:
Paula Palmer
Office Manager
National Historic Ships
Park Row
Greenwich
SE10 9NF
tel: 020 8312 6514
fax: 020 8312 6632
web: www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk
email: paula.palmer@nationalhistoricships.org.uk