Gracehill Village Gracehill Village

What is a World Heritage Site?

A World Heritage Sites is a cultural and/or natural site which is designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as having “Outstanding Universal Value” (OUV)

To achieve World Heritage Status it is necessary to demonstrate OUV. This means cultural and/or natural significance which is so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations of all humanity.

The Giant’s Causeway, currently the only World Heritage Site in Northern Ireland, is designated as a natural heritage site of global geological importance.

The Convention under which World Heritage Sites are designated is one of the most widely recognised international agreements in the world and also the most popular cultural programme in history.

Gracehill and World Heritage.

For over two decades the Gracehill community has worked with other similar Moravian Settlements around the world to develop a joint nomination for inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Gracehill is one of a number of similar historic Moravian Settlements scattered around the Globe and since 2003 the community have been actively involved with an international network known as the Christiansfeld Initiative. Christiansfeld is a Moravian Settlement in Denmark and it was here that in 2003 the first international network conference took place. The second conference took place in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA in 2004 and subsequent conferences were arranged in Cape Agulhas, South Africa in 2006 and in Gracehill, in 2007. (This was generously supported by the then Ballymena Borough Council).

Gracehill Old School Trust (GhOST) spearheaded the World Heritage activity locally and in March 2011 submitted an application, on behalf of the village, to be admitted to the UK list of potential world heritage nominations (The UK Tentative List) to the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in London. Following assessment the UK expert panel commented as follows:

“Gracehill provides excellent evidence of a socio-religious system – the Moravians – which, unusually for its time was highly tolerant. The international importance of the Moravians is high and there is potential for a transnational nomination of Moravian sites. This site was judged not to have the potential to demonstrate Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) on its own. The Government should consider adding Gracehill to this Tentative List in the future if firm proposals for a transnational nomination should be developed, provided that it can be demonstrated that the site could make a substantial contribution to the OUV of the series as a whole.”

Subsequently, building on the successful inscription of the Moravian Settlement of Christiansfeld in Denmark as a World Heritage Site (2015), a transnational nomination entitled “Moravian Church Settlements” was researched and developed to include Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (USA), Herrnhut(Germany) and Gracehill.

As stated earlier to achieve World Heritage Status it is necessary to demonstrate Outstanding Universal Value. UNESCO list 10 possible criteria and the Moravian Church Settlements nomination utilised criteria 3 and 4:

(iii) to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared.
(iv) to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;

World Heritage Site and Buffer Zone Boundaries

Once OUV has been established for a potential site it is necessary to define the limits of the site. The designated site will have a “Boundary” detailing the actual area and a wider surrounding area or “Buffer Zone” which, UNESCO guidelines state, includes the “immediate setting of the nominated property, important views and other areas or attributes that are functionally important as a support to the property and its protection.”

The Moravian Church Settlements- Gracehill world heritage designated site proposed boundary (See Map) lies almost entirely within the existing Gracehill Conservation Area . The Buffer zone (See Map) was identified following a review of the setting of the village, which in addition to key views, included a study on its historic relationship with the wider townland of Ballykennedy, which can still be read in the Settlement patterns, routeways and field boundaries. This followed extensive research involving the Historic Environment Division of the Department of Communities, Mid and East Antrim Borough Council Planning Department, World Heritage experts and Gracehill representatives. It was also subject to review and comment by International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS).