MPs argue over whether to save Bod
Oxford MPs are calling for the protection of some of Oxford’s most famous buildings as a fifty-year-old treaty is finally ratified by the UK. The 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict gives protection to historical buildings, preventing their destruction by enemy forces in war situations. So far 114 countries have signed the Convention, which awards badges to protected buildings.
Any commanding officer who attacks a badged building will face criminal charges. A provisional list of forty five of the most important British sites has been drawn up by the government, including 14 national museums, 23 world heritage sites and Britain's seven legal deposit sites. This includes the Bodleian library, Cambridge University library, Stonehenge and the entirety of Bath, which was named a World Heritage Site in 1987. Already it is proving a controversial topic.
Broadcaster and former MP Martin Bell has called for the whole of Oxford and Cambridge to be designated protected areas. Oxford East MP Andrew Smith agrees. “If you’re designating areas to protect, it makes sense to designate whole areas, so I would argue that all of Oxford should go on the list,” he said.
However, Regius Professor of History, Robert Evans, warns that what he terms a “terribly airy debate” could be in danger of ignoring some of the most important buildings in Oxford by concentrating solely on the colleges. “Don’t forget Oxford isn’t just a university, and parts of the city would need saving too: I’d put the Castle, Beaumont Street and Magdalen Bridge before St Catz.
?? Under the treaty, ‘cultural property’ is defined as ‘movable or immovable property of great importance to the cultural heritage of every people’, and includes large storage facilities, such as libraries, as well as ‘groups of buildings which, as a whole, are of historical or artistic interest’. However, as the sites covered by all definitions of cultural property in Britain run into the hundreds of thousands, it is up to the Government to create a list of the most important areas.
Because of inevitable omissions in the final shortlist, a list of buildings for ‘general protection’ has also been drawn up, in addition to the designated protected buildings. This will include places such as Buckingham Palace, Nelson’s Column and all 6000 Grade I listed buildings. It is intended to raise awareness of buildings which should be avoided, though soldiers who attack such places will not be prosecuted.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has produced a consultation paper exploring the need for a pared-down list. It is feared that by including too many sites, ‘an enemy force… would be unable to direct its operations,’, which could lead to wholesale destruction out of ‘military necessity’.
The jurisdiction of the convention is far reaching and powerful; a Yugoslav soldier is currently serving eight years in prison for shelling the old town of Dubrovnik in Croatia during the Balkans war. The provisional list will not official be published until December. The full list will become available once the convention is signed next year.
5th Oct 2005