York Minster Joins Alliance to Reduce Crime against Heritage (ARCH)

York Minster is now one of over 100 organisations to have joined the Alliance to Reduce Crime against Heritage (ARCH), a voluntary national network that is being used to take forward the initiatives of a heritage crime prevention programme. The aim of ARCH is to reduce the amount of damage done by crime to the nation’s heritage assets.

The first comprehensive survey on the effects of crime on England’s historic buildings, commissioned by English Heritage and released in 2012, shows a worrying rate of damage and estimates that churches and other religious buildings face the greatest threat. Three out of eight religious buildings were damaged by crime in 2011.

Dr Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage, said: “The figures are alarming, particularly for our churches. Whilst heritage is not necessarily being targeted over other places, save perhaps for their valuable materials and artefacts, they are suffering a substantial rate of attrition from crime nonetheless.

“Damage done to a listed building or an archaeological site can often not be put right and centuries of history will be lost forever. These places have an obviously high value to society. Their particular vulnerability warrants every effort to ensure they are still around for future generations to enjoy just as much as we enjoy them now.”

Local history societies, amenity groups and neighbourhood watch associations are all being encouraged to raise awareness of the risk of criminal damage to historic sites and buildings in their area.

York Minster is an important building as a place of worship and as a celebrated feature of the historical city of York, drawing in thousands of visitors a year. Latterly, a number of restoration projects have been undertaken to protect and preserve the stained glass and the fabric of the building. York Minster Revealed is an on-going project that will restore the beauty of the early fifteenth-century Great East Window, allowing a better understanding of the story it depicts.

Joining ARCH means that York Minster will be part of a growing initiative to help heritage organisations in raising awareness of the problem of crime to historic properties and to inspire local action.

ENDS 

For further media information on York Minster, contact Lisa Sinclair: 0844 939 0014 ext. 2480, 07785 615457.