English Heritage is the national agency for archaeology, heritage and conservation in England, the government’s primary adviser on such matters. We work in partnership with local government, non-governmental agencies, community bodies and landowners to protect the historic environment, and ensure that it makes its proper contribution to society and the modern world. We advise government and others on the significance and value of all aspects of the historic environment, and on its protection, maintenance, management and use. In addition, we look after approximately 400 of the most important historic monuments.

The Monuments Protection Programme (MPP) is the department of English Heritage that carries out strategic long-term thematic reviews of the country’s archaeological heritage. One result of this work is the designation of protected sites - "scheduled monuments"- but equally important is the creation of nationally-comprehensive information for use in all areas of heritage management.

The MPP also carries out English Heritage’s programme of Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC). We work in co-operation with County Councils and their Sites and Monuments Registers (www.algao.org.uk). HLC is providing one of the starting points for EH’s involvement in the European Pathways to the Cultural Landscape programme.