What is Heritage Value?

Everyone has things that they treasure; mementos, keepsakes and heirlooms that have been saved or passed down through generations as a way of remembering and honouring family, community, events or places. In many instances, these things don't need to be worth a lot of money to render them special, but rather, are priceless because of the personal ties they represent to an individual's or a group's historical background.

Heritage values are the tangible and intangible associations a society collectively holds to a person, place or thing. By virtue, this broad definition encompasses a wide array of examples that are both physical (artifacts, documents, photographs) and non-physical (traditions, folklore, rituals).

This website examines heritage value as it applies to physical associations and specifically, to historically significant structures that make up this province's built heritage. Within this context, the elements that allow for the measurement of a historic place's heritage value include the history of a structure, an appreciation of its architecture, its location, its spatial configurations, the manner in which it contributes to its surrounding landscape and its role within a community.

Heritage designation is evidence of a community's collective past; physical reminders of where a group of people have come from, who they are and why their society is the way it is. Through the preservation and protection of such structures, residents are able to experience a substantial part of a place's history and have a way of connecting with those that came before them.

More than just historic homes and churches, built heritage represents a rich assortment of structures and places that help define a community's shared history. Bridges, industrial sites, cemeteries, landscapes, agricultural buildings and archaeological sites are all examples of the kind of landmarks that embody a place's unique history and contribute to a deeper understanding of a society's development.