Historic Monuments and Archaeological Objects (Northern Ireland) Order 1995

Public access to monuments under ownership or guardianship of Department

20.—(1) Subject to the following provisions of this Article, the public shall have access to any monument under the ownership or guardianship of the Department.

(2) The Department may nevertheless control the times of normal public access to any monument under its ownership or guardianship and may also, if it considers it necessary or expedient to do so in the interests of safety or for the maintenance or protection of the monument, entirely exclude the public from access to any such monument or to any part of it, for such period as it thinks fit.

(3) The Department may make such charges as it may from time to time determine for the admission of the public to any monument under its ownership or guardianship.

(4) The Department may, by notice clearly displayed in the vicinity of a monument under its ownership or guardianship, impose such other conditions on the admission of the public to the monument as appear to the Department to be necessary for—

(a)the protection of the monument and its amenities or of any property of the Department; and

(b)prohibiting or regulating any act or thing which would tend to injure or disfigure the monument or its amenities or to disturb the public in their enjoyment of it.

(5) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), any person authorised in that behalf by the Department may refuse admission to any monument under the ownership or guardianship of the Department to any person he has reasonable cause to believe is likely to do anything which would tend to injure or disfigure the monument or its amenities or to disturb the public in their enjoyment of it.

(6) If any person contravenes any condition imposed under paragraph (4) on the admission of the public to a monument under the ownership or guardianship of the Department, he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

(7) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any monument of which the Department is guardian by virtue of a deed executed before 1st June 1926, except in cases where—

(a)the owner has by that deed consented to the public having access to the monument; or

(b)a public right of access has arisen through the acquiescence of the owner or otherwise.

(8) In relation to any other monument under the guardianship of the Department, paragraph (1) is subject to any provision to the contrary in the guardianship deed.