Public monument
A visitor monument with a public point. It is not a section 7 declaration and not a preservation order.
Uncertainty area
A broad area around a historic context. The circle is uncertainty, not the edge of a controlled area.
Withheld findspot
A modern find whose location an official source keeps confidential. The atlas adds no geometry and no monument status.
Rule without a pin
A statutory definition discussed for what the Act requires, not for where a monument stands.
A symbol is not permission
This article explains the ancient-monument provisions in the consolidated Manx Museum and National Trust Act 1959 checked on 17 October 2026, the 2023 Manx National Heritage archaeology guide, the ancient-monument access guides, and the 6 May 2021 Historic Environment Record announcement. It is not legal advice. It does not grant access, an excavation licence, written consent to use a metal detector, a preservation order or permission to search, dig, alter a monument or remove an object. Monument status is a matter for the Act and for the Trust. If you find a possible archaeological object, leave the surrounding context undisturbed and contact Manx National Heritage.
What does the Act include in that definition?
An ancient monument on the Isle of Man is a term defined in section 2 of the Manx Museum and National Trust Act 1959, in the consolidated text checked on 17 October 2026. The definition includes any monument or group of monuments, and any part or remains of a monument or group, whose preservation is in the opinion of the Trust a matter of public interest by reason of the historic, architectural, traditional, artistic, scientific or archaeological interest attaching to it. It also includes the site of any such monument or remains, and any part of the adjoining land which in the opinion of the Trust may be required to fence, cover or otherwise preserve the monument from injury, to preserve its amenities, to provide or facilitate access, or to exercise proper control or management. Section 3(2) says the Trust may continue to perform its functions under the name Manx National Heritage, Eiraght Ashoonagh Vannin. The opinion in the definition is the Trust's. This atlas does not supply it.
The same section defines a monument more narrowly than the ancient-monument test. A monument includes any building, structure or other work, whether above or below the surface of the land, other than an ecclesiastical building for the time being used for ecclesiastical purposes, and any cave or excavation. The ancient-monument definition then adds any dwelling house, building or erection, and the fittings, furniture and contents, illustrative of the mode of life, occupation, habits and customs of the people of the Island in bygone days. An archaeological object is a different term in the same section: a chattel, including ancient human and animal remains, which has a value substantially greater than its intrinsic value because of archaeological interest or association with a Manx historical event or person, and the expression includes all treasure. A standing monument and a portable object can raise different sections of the Act. The 2023 Manx National Heritage guide says the Island, as a self-governing Crown dependency, has its own ancient monuments, portable antiquities and underwater heritage legislation. This guide follows that separation.
How does the Trust declare a monument and publish a list?
Section 7 gives the Trust a specific power beside the definition. The Trust may from time to time, by order, with the consent of the owner, declare that any monument shall be deemed to be an ancient monument to which the Act applies. Endnote 32 of the consolidation says section 7 was amended by the Governor's General Functions (Transfer) Act 1980, Schedule 1. The current subsection still requires the owner's consent for that declaration. Section 2 also defines owner. The definition includes several kinds of person entitled to possession or to rents and profits, guardians of a minor, a receiver, trustees, the Crown Estate Commissioners, and a Department or other Government or Tynwald body in whom property is vested.
Section 13 requires a published list, and it is a different instrument from a section 7 order. The Trust shall from time to time cause to be prepared and published a list containing such monuments as are considered by the Trust as being monuments the preservation of which is of national importance, or should otherwise be included in such list, and shall inform the owners and occupiers of their intention and of the penalties which may be incurred. Where the owner of an ancient monument included in any such list proposes to demolish or remove it in whole or in part, structurally alter it, or make additions, the owner shall forthwith give notice to the Trust and shall not commence that work for one month after giving notice. Contravention or non-compliance is an offence, liable on summary conviction at the suit of the Trust to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month, or to both. Endnote 35 says subsection (2) was amended by the Fines and Penalties Act 2024, Schedule 4. The section does not print a pound figure for level 4. Subsection (3) says the section does not apply to any structure occupied as a dwelling house by any person other than a caretaker or the caretaker's family.
Where can a reader see monument information now?
This edition does not reproduce a section 13 list. The public pages checked on 17 October 2026 were the consolidated Act, the 2023 archaeology guide, the Manx National Heritage page titled Ancient Monument Access Guides, the Historic Environment Record announcement posted on 6 May 2021, and the Historic Environment Record homepage. The access-guides page is visiting information. It states that Manx National Heritage has the guardianship of many ancient monuments in the landscape, that a number of these sites are publicly accessible, and that in most circumstances the land is not in the ownership of Manx National Heritage and visits are made at the visitor's own risk. The same page publishes access guides, including guides named for Meayll Circle, Cashtal yn Ard, King Orry's Grave and The Braaid. Those titles are the page's.
The 6 May 2021 announcement says the Historic Environment Record website provides access to the Isle of Man's statutory ancient monuments, the Manx Crosses and the Island's war memorials. It quotes Andrew Johnson, HER Officer, saying the organisation started life in the 1880s as the Ancient Monuments Trustees. Section 2(2) of the Act is a separate rule about names: references in any enactment or other document to the Manx Museum and Ancient Monuments Trustees shall be construed as references to the Trust. The homepage checked for this article points readers who want more on ancient monuments, archaeological objects and treasure to the 2023 guide. None of those pages, in the text checked, labels itself as the list required by section 13. For further archaeology advice the 2023 guide gives iomher@mnh.im, the telephone numbers +44 (0)1624 648025 and +44 (0)1624 648026, and Manx National Heritage in Douglas. The access-guides page gives a different contact for access and facilities: enquiries@mnh.im and +44 (0)1624 648000. Use the current official page if either contact has changed.
What does a preservation order stop?
Section 11 is the preservation order. If the Trust is of opinion that any ancient monument is in danger of destruction or removal or damage from neglect or injudicious treatment, and that the preservation of the monument is of national importance, the Trust may make an order placing the monument under the protection of the Trust. Where the Trust has reason to believe a monument is in that danger, the Trust, or a person authorised in writing, may enter at any reasonable time to inspect it and decide whether an order is proper. Unless the Trust considers the inspection a matter of immediate urgency, not less than seven clear days' notice to the occupier is required. On making an order the Trust shall fix a copy on some conspicuous part of the monument and serve a copy, with a notice stating the effect, on the owner and the occupier.
The order has effect for eighteen months after the date on which it is made. On the expiration of that period, and for one month afterwards, the owner or occupier may petition Tynwald to have the order set aside. If Tynwald does not pass a resolution setting the order aside at the first sitting after the petition is presented, or at a sitting to which that petition is continued or adjourned, or if no petition is presented within either period, the monument shall thenceforth vest in the Trust in all respects as if the Trust had been nominated guardians by the owner. Not less than fourteen days' notice in writing of the proposed Tynwald sitting shall be given to the Trust, and the Trust may be heard in opposition. While a preservation order is in force, section 12 says the monument shall not be demolished or removed, and no additions or alterations shall be made to it, and no work shall be carried out in connection with it, except with the written consent of the Trust. That written consent is the Trust's. It is not a section 7 declaration, and it is not the excavation licence in section 23.
What does guardianship allow the Trust to do?
Ownership and guardianship are written as different arrangements. Section 8 says the owner of any ancient monument may by deed or will give, devise or bequeath it to the Trust, and the Trust may accept if they think it expedient. Section 9 deals with a sale, gift, devise or bequest by an owner who is not the owner in fee simple in possession for his own benefit: it includes and conveys the absolute ownership. Section 10 is guardianship without that transfer. The owner may by deed constitute the Trust guardians, and the Trust may accept if they think it expedient. Every person deriving title from, through or under that owner is bound by the deed. The owner shall, except as the Act expressly provides, have the same estate, right, title and interest as if the Trust had not been constituted guardians. The Trust may maintain the monument and, for that maintenance, shall at all reasonable times have access by themselves or their workmen, and may bring materials and do such acts as may be required for the maintenance.
Maintenance, in section 2, includes fencing, repairing and covering in, any other act required for repairing the monument or protecting it from decay or injury, or restoring it to its known or assumed original condition, and the power to examine the monument or open it up and make excavations in it for examination or otherwise. That maintenance power is the Trust's under guardianship. It is not a power this page can hand to a visitor. Section 14 adds a further set of powers that do not require the Trust to be owner or guardian: the Trust may receive voluntary contributions towards maintenance and preservation and the amenities of a monument, and may enter an agreement with the owner or any other person about maintenance and its cost. The Trust may also make regulations relating to any monument as to access or otherwise, including the power to make charges for access where the monument is vested in the Trust. The access-guides page is one public description of visiting. It is not those regulations, and it is not a charge schedule.
What is the offence of injuring a monument?
Section 15 applies where a person injures or defaces a monument of which the Trust are the owners or guardians, or which is the subject of a preservation order. That person shall on summary conviction at the suit of the Trust be liable to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale and, in addition, such sums as the court thinks just for repairing the damage, or to imprisonment with or without hard labour for a term not exceeding one month. For this section the owner of an ancient monument of which the Trust are guardians, or which is subject to a preservation order, shall be liable as if he were not the owner. Endnote 36 says section 15 was amended by the Fines and Penalties Act 2024, Schedule 5. The consolidated text does not print a pound figure for level 5. Section 22 is the neighbouring offence for an archaeological object, which is a chattel: no person shall injure, deface or destroy one, or alter one otherwise than under a licence specifying the object, the manner, the extent and the conditions. Injuring a monument and altering a find are different sections. Satisfying neither is stated by owning the land.
Section 16 is a further control, for the amenities of an ancient monument rather than for a single act of injury. The Trust may prepare and confirm a preservation scheme for any area comprising or adjacent to the site of the monument, where the Trust is of opinion that it is necessary or expedient that the scheme apply. The scheme shall define the controlled area by a map annexed to it. It may prohibit or restrict buildings and other works above ground, prescribe their external appearance, prohibit or restrict the felling of trees, quarrying and excavations, and otherwise restrict the user of land so far as appears expedient for preserving the amenities. A person who contravenes a scheme in force is liable on summary conviction at the suit of the Trust to a fine not exceeding £100 for every day on which the contravention occurs or continues. Endnote 37 says subsection (6) was amended by the Manx Museum Act 1984. The figure in the consolidation checked for this article is £100 a day. A scheme can also give rise to compensation under the Second Schedule where property is injuriously affected. This guide has not reviewed a named scheme, and it does not draw a controlled area on the atlas.
How do detecting and digging rules meet a monument?
Section 21A uses ancient monuments for a different decision: metal detectors. A protected area in that section means any place which is the site of an ancient monument, or of any monument under the ownership or the guardianship of the Trust by virtue of the Act, or any place situated in an area the Trust has by order designated as an area of archaeological importance for the purposes of the section. Using a metal detector in a protected area without the Trust's written consent is an offence under section 21A(1). Removing an object of archaeological or historical interest discovered by that use in a protected area, without written consent, is a separate offence under section 21A(5). The section also states defences, including use for a purpose other than detecting or locating objects of archaeological or historical interest, and having taken all reasonable precautions to find out whether the place was a protected area and not believing that it was. The detector journal sets out the penalties from the same consolidation.
Digging for an archaeological purpose sits in section 23, and it is not limited to the site of an ancient monument. No person shall, without or otherwise than in accordance with a licence issued by the Trust, dig or excavate in or under any land for the purpose of searching generally for archaeological objects, of searching for, exposing or examining any particular structure or thing of archaeological interest, or for any other archaeological purpose. The 2023 guide states the practical line under its sites-and-monuments heading: no archaeological excavation can take place without first obtaining a licence from Manx National Heritage. Section 17 is a different power again. An inspector, or a person specially authorised in writing by the Trust, may after not less than fourteen days' written notice enter land the Trust have reason to believe contains an ancient monument, and may excavate for examination. The section withholds that entry from a dwelling house, or from a building, park, garden, pleasure ground or other land used for the amenity or convenience of a dwelling house, except with the occupier's consent. It also says no excavation shall be made under those powers except with the consent of every person whose consent would, apart from the section, be required. Wilful obstruction is an offence, liable to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale. Endnote 39 says that penalty was amended by the Fines and Penalties Act 2024, Schedule 1. Section 17 is not a licence a visitor can take from this page. The excavation journal explains section 23.
What does a map pin say about monument status?
Manx Treasure Map does not record section 7 declarations, section 13 list entries, preservation orders, preservation schemes or guardianship deeds as a status layer. A marker is a public feature reference. A circle is an uncertainty area. A withheld record is a decision to publish no geometry. None of those treatments is a declaration that a monument is an ancient monument, and none of them is a finding that the land around a symbol is outside section 21A or section 23. Where an official source withholds a modern findspot, this article adds no point and no area. Absence of a pin is not a finding that the land has no monument interest.
The atlas has public place pages for sites the access-guides page also names, including Meayll Circle, Cashtal yn Ard and King Orry's Grave. Each of those pages is an evidence summary of a documented place. It is not a preservation order for that place, not written consent to use a metal detector there, and not an excavation licence for the land around it. The symbols guide explains the four publication treatments. The place-page guide explains how to read a record without treating it as a target. Before any use of a metal detector in a place that may be the site of an ancient monument, or a monument in the Trust's ownership or guardianship, the document that matters is written consent under section 21A. Before digging or excavating for an archaeological purpose, the document that matters is a licence under section 23. If an object is then found, the reporting duty in section 20 still has to be met. The definition journal explains how an archaeological object relates to treasure. This monument guide does not repeat those tests.
Primary and official evidence
Sources checked for this guide
Access dates record the evidence reviewed for this edition. Follow the current official material before relying on a rule or reporting route.
- Manx Museum and National Trust Act 1959 — current consolidated textOfficial consolidated text. Sections 2, 3, 7 to 17, 21A and 23 are the monument, guardianship, detector and excavation provisions used here. Accessed .
- Archaeology on the Isle of Man — Manx National Heritage guideOfficial one-page guide. It states the Island's own ancient-monuments legislation, the excavation licence and the archaeology contact. Accessed .
- Ancient Monument Access Guides — Manx National HeritageOfficial visiting page. It states guardianship, that many sites are on land the Trust does not own, and names the access guides. Accessed .
- Isle of Man Historic Environment Record goes online — Manx National HeritageOfficial announcement of 6 May 2021. It says the record site provides access to statutory ancient monuments, Manx Crosses and war memorials. Accessed .
- Isle of Man Historic Environment RecordOfficial record homepage. Its note on ancient monuments, archaeological objects and treasure points to the 2023 Manx National Heritage guide. Accessed .
Questions readers ask
Marker, circle and withheld-location FAQ
Is every old site on the Isle of Man an ancient monument?
Section 2 defines an ancient monument by the Trust's opinion that preservation is a matter of public interest for historic, architectural, traditional, artistic, scientific or archaeological reasons, and it includes the site and certain adjoining land. A monument includes a building, structure or other work above or below ground, other than an ecclesiastical building in current ecclesiastical use, and any cave or excavation.
Does guardianship mean Manx National Heritage owns the land?
Section 10 says the owner of an ancient monument of which the Trust are guardians keeps the same estate, right, title and interest, except as the Act expressly provides. The ancient-monument access guides state that in most circumstances the land is not in the ownership of Manx National Heritage. Guardianship is not a section 23 excavation licence and not written consent under section 21A.
How long does a preservation order last?
Section 11 says a preservation order has effect for eighteen months after it is made. The owner or occupier may petition Tynwald to set it aside during that period and for one month after it expires. If no petition is presented in time, or Tynwald does not set the order aside, the monument vests in the Trust as if the Trust had been nominated guardians. While the order is in force, section 12 requires the Trust's written consent for demolition, removal, additions, alterations or connected work.
Does an ancient monument ban metal detectors by itself?
Section 21A makes it an offence to use a metal detector in a protected area without the Trust's written consent. A protected area includes the site of an ancient monument and a monument in the Trust's ownership or guardianship under the Act. The detector journal sets out the penalties and the defences in that section.
Does this journal publish the statutory monuments list?
No. Section 13 requires the Trust to prepare and publish its own list and to tell owners and occupiers. The access guides, the Historic Environment Record and this article are not labelled, in the texts checked, as that list. A marker, a circle and a withheld record do not declare monument status or grant access, written consent or an excavation licence.
Use the framework
Open the law and reporting signpost
The law and reporting page collects the consolidated 1959 Act and the Manx National Heritage archaeology guide used here, with the separate routes for finds and wreck. Read that page before any work at a monument, and follow the current official text if it has moved on from this edition.