What is a Scheduled Monument?
Scheduling is shorthand for the process through which nationally important sites and monuments are given legal protection by being placed on a list, or schedule. Historic England takes the lead in identifying sites in England which should be placed on the schedule. The word monument covers the whole range of archaeological sites. Scheduled Monuments are not always ancient, or visible above ground. There are over 200 classes of monuments on the schedule, and they range from prehistoric standing stones and burial mounds, through the many types of medieval site - castles, monasteries, abandoned farmsteads and villages - to the more recent results of human activity, such as collieries and wartime pillboxes.

A schedule has been kept since 1882 of monuments considered to be of national importance by the government. The current legislation, the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, supports a formal system of Scheduled Monument Consent for any work to a designated monument. Scheduling is the only legal protection specifically for archaeological sites. To find out more about Scheduled Monuments and the Scheduling process, please visit Historic England - Scheduled Monuments

Are there any Scheduled Monuments in Epsom and Ewell?

• the site of Nonsuch Place and its associated remains
• St Mary's Church Tower in Ewell

We have one identified County site of Archaeological importance - Diana's Dyke, close to Nonsuch Palace. There are also several areas of high archaeological potential which can be identified using our online mapping system.