Renegotiating the Role of the Expert The Faro Convention, Historic Churches and the Role of Communities in Conservation

The Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society (the Faro Convention) was a significant development in conservation and heritage understanding. In ‘recognising the need to put people and human values at the centre of an enlarged and cross-disciplinary concept of cultural heritage’ (Preamble), it questions the role of conventional heritage expertise. In effect, it suggests that this role should be renegotiated, for the benefit of both cultural heritage and society at large. Heritage professionals have yet to engage fully with the far-reaching implications of this. Clearly, there are very real dangers to both cultural heritage and society in ignoring heritage expertise; but what often goes unrecognised are the equal and opposite dangers of ignoring the interests of those communities that form around historic buildings and in turn, are formed by them. Heritage expertise, typically clothed in the language of the ’scientific’, is often deployed to make ownership claims over the heritage in question, and to oppose judicious change; yet, if anyone can be said to 'own' these buildings, it is the core community that still animates them. This paper considers the relationship between experts and non-professionals through an examination of examples of English Parish churches that have undergone change. A concern for these churches, and the issues of ownership and preservation, were essential ingredients in the birth of modern conservation in the UK through William Morris's 1877 Manifesto for the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. These buildings remain contested, yet the governance system for change provides opportunity for dialogue between heritage experts and stakeholders. Presenting some key examples of attempted change, this paper examines the permissions system for church buildings in England and the implications for the relationship between experts and communities.