Conserving our World Heritage Site

Together with our partners, Durham Cathedral, Durham University and The City of Durham Trust, we have been working to update the management plan for our UNESCO World Heritage Site – Durham Castle and Cathedral. 

(Banner image: The Revd Charlie Allen, Canon Chancellor at Durham Cathedral and Chair of Durham Castle and Cathedral UNESCO World Heritage Site Strategic Partnership Board is pictured with the Peace Doves art installation suspended inside the Cathedral nave in 2024. This mass participation artwork consisted of 15,000 paper doves carrying messages of peace written by visitors and Durham residents. Copyright: Durham Cathedral.)

Background 

UNESCO, via the Department for Culture Media and Sport and Historic England requires all World Heritage Sites (WHS) to have a management plan. We have a shared responsibility with our partners in the production, adoption and implementation of this plan. This will be the third management plan for the World Heritage Site - the current plan covers the period 2017-2023.  

 What does it contain? 

 The WHS management plan: 

• describes the WHS site and what makes it special (its Outstanding Universal Value)
• explains how it is protected and managed (including the legislative and planning framework)
• analyses issues facing its conservation and management

It sets out a vision to “remain the beacon for Durham, a place of faith and learning for the next millennium” with key aims to conserve, share and regenerate the site for future generations and specific objectives for the next period. 

Purpose of the plan 

Once adopted, the new Management Plan 2025-2035 will do the following: 

• satisfy the requirements of UNESCO to maintain its designated status
• be a useful tool to generate investment
• together with the Durham City Conservation Area Management Plan, become a material consideration in the planning process in England and an important piece of baseline evidence that will inform future planning policy and development management
• form part of the evidence base for the next County Durham Plan and Durham City Neighbourhood Plan
• link into the County’s Economic Strategy around cultural infrastructure, culture-led regeneration and place shaping to improve vibrancy and pride of place and support heritage sector growth and innovation

Public involvement in developing the draft plan 

Work on creating this plan has been closely linked with the development and consultation on the Durham City Strategic Place Plan (now in place) and the Durham City Conservation Area Management Plan (still in development). The WHS management plan was presented at a public meeting for these two plans in October 2024. Public meetings have also taken place via Durham Area Action Partnership (now the Local Network), Durham City Parish Council and talks were hosted by City of Durham Trust and Palace Green Library. 

Further informal feedback has been gained from visitors to the site during last year’s Christmas Festival. In addition, the Cathedral commissioned Durham Wildlife Trust to run a public consultation on the riverbank area management specifically which generated 751 replies.  

The value of the World Heritage Site for those who live, work or study locally which is outlined in the plan in a set of ‘Local Values’ additional to the Outstanding Universal Values that UNESCO use was drawn from an intergenerational workshop involving local residents, youth ambassadors, university staff, and students, vox pop interviews with visitors and a student survey. 

The Draft Plan includes a section on the engagement process (pages 15 to 17). This describes the involvement that has already taken place and the pivotal role of organisations such as City of Durham Trust. A full list of stakeholders who have helped to shape the draft plan is included in Appendix D (page 85).  

What’s happening now

We’d like your views on the draft management plan, in particular your views on the following:

• how you value the World Heritage Site (local values page 40)
• the vision and objectives (page 60)
• the content of the action plan (Appendices A and B – pages 76 to 79)

The draft WHS management plan is available to read in full here: 

Draft World Heritage Site Management Plan.pdf

Or you can read summaries of the specific areas of the plan which we ask you about in the survey below.

The closing date for responses is 4 December 2025.