24 CONTEXT 176 : JUNE 2023 TERESA ANDERSON The view from Jodrell Bank When Jodrell Bank became a world heritage site in 2019, it was a world’s first for an observatory dedicated to astronomy and astrophysics research. At the time of writing (March 2023), the Unesco World Heritage List includes 1,157 sites, 33 of which are in the UK. Globally, sites fall into two main categories: natural sites, which are ‘characterized by their natural beauty or outstanding biodiversity, ecosystem and geological values’ and cultural sites, which include historical towns, significant archaeological sites and works of monumental sculpture. Some sites combine these qualities and are known as mixed sites. In the UK, the majority of world heritage sites are cultural. They include places such as the Tower of London, Durham Cathedral and Castle, and Edinburgh New Town. The UK has a rigorous process for sites that are put forward to Unesco for inclusion on the world heritage list. For Jodrell Bank Observatory, it took almost a decade of work. Astronomy heritage Across the world, there are many world heritage sites that have elements that relate to the heritage of astronomy. UK examples include Maritime Greenwich and Stonehenge. Further afield, sites such as ‘Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur’ in Egypt and Jantar Mantar in India include elements that express humanity’s exploration of the universe around us. However, it was long recognised that the world heritage list had a gap when it came to the inclusion of astronomy sites. In order to address this, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS, specialist and scientific advisor to Unesco on all matters of heritage) commissioned two thematic studies on astronomy, in partnership with the International Astronomical Union (IAU, which brings together all the learned societies globally). The two studies were both titled Heritage Sites of Astronomy and Archaeoastronomy in the context of the World Heritage Convention. The first study was published in June 2010 and the second in June 2012. Both thematic studies underpinned the work on the Jodrell Bank main nomination document and management plan, which were submitted to Unesco, along with the rest of the required documents in the nomination dossier, in 2018. The story of Jodrell Bank Jodrell Bank Observatory is a world heritage site, which means that elements of the place itself, its layout and its fabric, tell a story that, in the words of Unesco, is deemed to be of outstanding universal value. In practice, this means that the site stands for and expresses ideas, narrative and The Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank (Photo: University of Manchester)
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