A long-running effort to win world heritage status for Arbroath Abbey is under serious threat, claim campaigners.
The Declaration of Arbroath, which was drafted and signed at the abbey in 1320, is recognised as one of the foundation stones of modern democracy - the US Declaration of Independence is partially based on it. Campaigners believe the 800-year-old abbey meets the United Nations' world heritage criteria because of its link to the document, which influenced ideas across the world.
However, under UK government reforms, the bid to add the abbey to the list could be blocked. Andy Burnham, the culture secretary, is expected to announce an overhaul of the system for nominating sites in early summer. He points out that each bid costs up to £400,000 and claims that, in some cases, tourism benefits have been overstated. However, Mike Weir, the SNP MP for Angus, will step up the appeal to have the site recognised at the party's spring conference this week.
Scotland's role in world history is acknowledged in the recognition of sites covering the Neolithic, Roman, Enlightenment and industrial eras, he said, arguing that Arbroath Abbey would be a valuable addition. "There has been an all-party community campaign pushing for the granting of this status and obviously we all have grave concerns about the implications of the UK government's review," said Weir. "The influence of the events that took place at Arbroath on 6 April 1320, and the words of that declaration, is a global one. Democracies around the world can find their founding principles in the Declaration of Arbroath. It is only right that Arbroath Abbey has the opportunity to win full international recognition as a world heritage site."
There are 27 world heritage sites in the UK, including four in Scotland - St Kilda, Edinburgh's Old and New towns, New Lanark and Neolithic Orkney.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) places must be deemed to have outstanding universal value to all humanity and be of great importance for the conservation of mankind's cultural and natural heritage to be considered eligible for world heritage status. The 878 sites worldwide include the Pyramids and the Taj Mahal.
The government nominates one to four sites a year, but Unesco has asked well-represented countries to slow down nominations. A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: "We're looking long and hard at the benefits of world heritage status and considering whether or not we wish to continue with the current regime."
The campaign to grant world heritage status to Arbroath Abbey was launched four years ago by Tory MSP Alex Johnstone. Campaigners hope that heritage status will be secured by 2020, the 700th anniversary of the signing of the declaration. It is believed that the Declaration of Arbroath was drafted by Abbot Bernard six years after Robert the Bruce's victory at Bannockburn - on behalf of the nobles and barons of Scotland. The document urged Pope John XXII to recognise Scotland's independence.
Its most famous phrase is: "For, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."
