On Tuesday the Welsh Government website reported that legislation to improve the protection and management of Wales’ unique historic environment had been passed by the National Assembly for Wales.
Once the Bill is law, Wales will also become the first country in the UK to put historic environment records on a statutory footing – a measure that many groups having been calling for across the UK.
These records will allow advice on decisions by planning authorities and land managers to be based on sound information.
The records will also provide access to the new list of historic place names in Wales – another first for Wales.
Reporting on the place names records, the BBC states that the scheme will see the names of fields, river pools, caves and even ruined cottages collected and used to develop a definitive digital map. Furthermore, the names themselves will also make their way onto a National Library of Wales database.
As a language, Welsh emerged in the 6th century from Common Brittonic, the common ancestor of Welsh, Breton, Cornish and the extinct language known as Cumbric, according to Wikipedia.