Scheduled Ancient Monuments (SAM), Archaeological Sites, Ruins and Walls

Archaeological sites and SAM's
The GAGB guidelines for placing caches in the UK state, "No cache should be placed in such a way as to risk damage or disturbance to any Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) or Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM)" and "No cache should be placed in or on a dry stone wall". The main geocaching.com guidelines say that caches may not be allowed "in areas which are highly sensitive to the extra traffic that would be caused by vehicles and humans (examples may include archaeological or historic sites or cemeteries)"

Caches in archaeological sites such as, monasteries, abbeys, Roman sites, barrows, settlements or enclosure and so on* are absolutely not allowed unless you can provide clear proof from the organisation that owns/manages the site that the cache location is approved. You may however use such sites as clues and questions to answer for multi-caches, but the final location or any physical stages must not be within the boundaries of such sites without permission. Please note that the guideline above still applies to these 'clue' stages in case the extra traffic of people searching may cause damage to the site.

Identifying the boundaries of such sites is not easy. The Ordnance Survey 1:50000 map shows the locations for the whole UK but not in very much detail (see examples on the right).

England
The government MAGIC map provides an overlay of Scheduled Ancient Monuments which are protected sites, scheduled by English Heritage. See the MAGIC map example on the right. SAM's are outlined in orange with orange hatching inside.

Wales
The reviewers have access to map data from CADW, the body that schedules such monuments. For licence reasons these maps cannot be made public but reviewers can use them to check locations.

Scotland
There is no detailed mapping data available other than the OS maps so finding the boundaries of a SAM or other archeological site is more difficult. Sites in Scotland are scheduled by RCHMS.

Other Ruins
There are many examples of 'ruins' that may not be thought of (or officially recognised as) archaeological sites or structures. These could be ruined farm buildings, lime kilns or old pill boxes for example.

The reviewers may not publish caches in such places if they feel there is risk of further damage to the structure as people search for caches.

Dry Stone Walls and other Walls
The guideline quoted at the top of this page is very clear. Reviewers will not publish caches located in or near dry stone walls. Such walls by their very nature are only held together by the firmness of their construction as they have no mortar. There have been too many examples of such walls being damaged as finders remove stones searching for a cache. Due to the inevitable inaccuracy of GPS receivers, even caches 'near' such a wall may not be published either.

Caches placed in other walls, whether mortared or not may also be questioned by the reviewer if there is an indication that the wall is already in a poor state of repair and further damage could be caused.

*this is not an exhaustive list. Reviewers will use their discretion when reviewing caches believed to be in such locations and may request more information from the cache owner.

Hill Fort

Other Archaeological sites

MAGIC map of the Roman amphitheater in Cirencester showing the extent of the SAM
(click image for a larger version)

Roman site

Religious site

Typical Dry Stone Wall
(Click image for a larger version)

	Geocaching Resources for the UK	Site updated Saturday 4 February, 2012 9:40
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