Heritage Research and Legal Services

The legal arm of the Trust provides corporate legal services to the organisation and its Board of Trustees. The department declares sites National Monuments and designates sites as Protected National Heritage. Under the Jamaica National Heritage Trust Act of 1985, a site is declared a National Monument, if in the opinion of the Trust its preservation is a matter of public interest by reason of its historic, architectural, traditional, artistic, aesthetic, scientific or archaeological value.

Similar factors are taken into consideration when designating a site Protected National Heritage. Areas designated as such usually have group value particularly where buildings together make up an important architectural or historical unit, for example, Titchfield Hill in Portland and Port Royal, Kingston.

Criteria for Declaring a National Monument or Designated Protected National Heritage

To have a site declared or designated as a National Monument/Protected National Heritage; it should meet one or more of the following criteria:

Identify with Jamaican history

Prominently identify with a great Jamaican personage

Prominently identify with an important moment in Jamaican history

Illustrate the culture of the prehistoric people associated with archaeological discoveries

Identify with an architectural style related to an early master builder/architect

Possess great antiquity

Be an example of important regional or local architectural style

Be of importance to the public's imagination

Possess great natural beauty

Be a place name associated with the above criteria