Campaign for World Heritage Site Status Progresses

Work is actively underway to gain World Heritage Site Status for the remarkable Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. During 2005, Wrexham County Borough Council, in partnership with British Waterways and with a funding contribution from Tourism Partnership North Wales, commissioned consultants to evaluate the Aqueduct’s international significance and to prepare a ‘Statement of Significance’. This was following advice from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

The expert team of consultants appointed was an association between two separate partnerships. Christopher Pound and Jane McDermott who are both qualified architects with an expert knowledge of the UNESCO World Heritage Process, having worked on sites from Bath to Montenegro. The other expert grouping was comprised of Dr David Gwyn, a published archaeologist who specialises in transport systems, Dr Barrie Trinder and Dr Ron Fitzgerald.

The consultants’ findings have substantiated Pontcysyllte Aqueduct’s World Heritage credentials through a series of expert papers. They have identified that Pontcysyllte Aqueduct meets no less than three UNESCO World Heritage Criteria:

• Criterion C (i) – it represents a masterpiece of human creative genius;
• Criterion C (ii) – it exhibits an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town planning or landscape design; and
• Criterion C (iv) – it is an outstanding example of a type of building or architectural or technological ensemble or landscape, which illustrates a significant stage in human history.

With the confidence of this expert evidence in place, both British Waterways and Wrexham County Borough Council have agreed to work-up the nomination bid and approach further partners for support.