Nomination Criteria

Buildings and structures

Architectural merit/interest

• Is the building or structure the work of a particular architect or designer of national, regional or local note?
• Has it important qualities of age, style, design, composition, materials, plan or other distinctive characteristics significant to the local area?

Historic interest

• Does the building or structure display an important aspect of the area’s social, economic, religious, political or cultural history?
• Does it serve as a reminder of the development of the settlement in which it stands or of an earlier phase of growth, which may have been masked by later development?
• Does it have an historic association with established features such as the transport network, burgage plots, an urban park, or other archaeological or landscape feature?

Close historical associations

• Has the building or structure significant historical associations with local famous people or events which are well documented?
• Does it relate by age, materials or in any other historically significant way to adjacent statutorily or locally designated sites or areas and contribute positively to their setting?
• If a structure is associated with a designated landscape, such as walls, terracing or a garden building, is it of identifiable importance to the historic design?

Landmark or townscape value buildings

• Does it have landmark quality in terms of striking aesthetic value or a strong communal or historical association?

Group value

• Does it have group value – is it part of a group of assets with a clear visual, design, architectural or historic relationship?

Rarity/uniqueness

• Does it display an innovative or rare example of a locally distinctive form of construction or use of local materials?
• Is it unusual in the area or a rare survivor of something that was once common?

Other criteria

• Industrial structures (such as bridges, cranes, canals)
• Age
• Contribute to identity (aesthetic, evidential, social or communal value)
• Does it provide a tangible link to the pre-industrial area?
• Physical integrity/ nearness to original condition, or degree of preservation.

Parks and Gardens

Historic interest: date

• Was the landscape designed and laid out in past times, or is it a particularly early example of its landscape type.
• Does it have qualities in terms of layout, planting, furniture and other features that reflect its date of creation?

Historic/architectural interest: preservation

• Is the landscape well preserved in terms of the layout, furniture structures and planting that are recorded at the time of its setting out or at other significant stages in its development?

Artistic/architectural interest: aesthetics

• Is the landscape successful in creating an attractive area for recreation or commemoration as a result of its formal design or through fortuitous elements that evolved over time?

Historic interest: associations with people and past events

• Was the landscape set out at a particularly significant point in the development of the wider area, such as the creation of a new civic or administrative body or by or for a locally notable group or individual?
• Does the landscape represent a particularly interesting example of the horticultural or artistic development of its type? Does the design of the landscape have associations with the formation of religious communities and beliefs in the area?
• Are there associations with known designers, or with specific events or individuals?

Archaeological sites

Survival

• Do physical remains survive (above ground or below ground), or is there evidence that they are likely to remain, of whatever form (buildings, earthworks, archaeological deposits)?
• Is there evidence of significant concentrations of objects of archaeological interest, eg flint scatters, which are not eligible for national designation?

Rarity

• Is the site a rare surviving example in the Black Country of a particular class of monument?
• Is the site the only, or one of a very few, visible remains in a locality?

Other criteria

• Is the site publicly visible and accessible having important amenity value to the local community?

Geological heritage sites

• Has the building, structure, landscape or monument been strongly influenced by, or reflects, the geological history and heritage of the area?
• Does evidence survive of historic extraction or utilisation of the geological resource (such as historic quarrying or mining)?
• Are geological features exposed, providing access to and information about the geological history of the area?
• Have the geological features, building, structure or landscape played a role in the development of the science of geology or in the historic understanding of geology in the area?

Public works of art

• Is the work of a particular artist or designer of regional or local note?
• Does the work derive from or depict an important aspect of the area’s social, economic, religious, political or cultural history?