PRELIMINARIES
HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT This CMP is intended as a strategic and operational document, contributing to the future management and use of the Cathedral. It sets out the significance of the place in order to inform the Cathedral’s future management through appropriate, conservation-led policies for the repair, renovation and development of the building. At the simplest level a CMP describes: 03 • • • • •
what your heritage is; why it matters and to whom; what is happening to it; what the key issues are you need to be aware of to look after it; and what should be done to preserve and enhance it;
The CMP has been split into two volumes – the CMP and the management gazetteer. The former has a strategic and overarching function, whilst the latter offers a management tool for individual decision-making and operational maintenance. Navigation: this document contains a series of features that are designed to make it easier to navigate on-screen as a pdf. Items that have hyperlinks - which allow you to jump to the relevant pages - will show a ‘hand’ cursor when you hover over them. Further information: publications that offer additional detail on a subject are highlighted in bold and linked to the relevant webpage if available. 03
VOLUME 1: CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN Understanding the Development of the Place This section provides a summary understanding of the historical development of the Cathedral and its setting from which a well-informed assessment of significance can be made. Historic development follows the narrative of the Cathedral chronologically and is broken down into key themes. Discussion and analysis of the importance of these themes is provided and a detailed contextual analysis of the new cathedral considers how this fits into the wider national and international narrative of Post-War places of worship. Understanding the Place Today This section sets the Cathedral within an understanding of its current situation, providing baseline information on management, use and setting. Also included in this section is information on its management structure, use, location, setting and views, summary descriptions, archaeological potential and relevant legislative constraints. Significance The assessment of significance sets out a methodology that is used to articulate the outstanding cultural significance of Coventry Cathedral, placing the heritage asset within its international context. The assessment articulates the sitespecific values that make the Cathedral special, whilst the gazetteer sets out an understanding of how each component contributes to this. The aim of this approach is to provide a foundation of understanding from which decisions can be made in the future.
National Lottery Heritage Fund, conservation planning guidance online at https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/publications/conservationplanning-guidance [Accessed 03 January 2020]
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The assessment includes: • What is significant? • Why it is significant? • The relative level of significance for each component. Conservation Framework The conservation framework is vital to the future sustainability of the Cathedral and sets out policies to inform decisionmaking and includes an understanding of vulnerabilities and opportunities, strategic management policies and principles for managing future change. These principles offer a process for assessing the impact of proposals on significance, decisionmaking flow diagrams and best practice guidance for managing Coventry Cathedral. VOLUME 2: MANAGEMENT GAZETTEER The management gazetteer breaks down the Cathedral into its constituent parts in order to understand how each component contributes to the overarching significance, as well as identifying any vulnerabilities and potential opportunities. An understanding of how an individual component contributes to the site-specific values of the Cathedral will be used to inform decision-making when changes are proposed. Individual parameters relating to operational management are also provided
