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Glossary of Terms

Character-defining elements The materials, forms, location, spatial configurations, uses and cultural associations or meanings that contribute to heritage value. These elements must be sustained in order to preserve heritage value.
Conservation All actions or processes that are aimed at safeguarding the character-defining elements of a cultural resource in order to retain its heritage value and extend its physical life. This may involve “Preservation,” “Rehabilitation,” “Restoration,” or a combination of these actions or processes.

Cultural landscapes  

A distinct geographical area or property uniquely representing the combined work of nature and of people.
Heritage value The aesthetic, historic, scientific, cultural, social or spiritual importance or significance for past, present or future generations. The heritage value of a historic place is embodied in its character- defining materials, forms, location, spatial configurations, uses and cultural associations or meanings.
Historic place A structure, building, group of buildings, district, landscape, archaeological site or other place in Canada that has been formally recognized for its heritage value.
Intervention Any action, other than demolition or destruction, that results in a physical change to an element of a historic place.
Minimal intervention The approach which allows functional goals to be met with the least physical intervention.
Preservation The action or process of protecting, maintaining and/or stabilizing the existing materials, form and integrity of a historic place, or of an individual component, while protecting its heritage value.

Public-building interiors 

The character-defining elements of publicly accessible building interiors owned by the Government of the Province in the case of a provincial heritage property, or owned by a municipality in the case of a municipal heritage property.
Register The Nova Scotia Register of Historic Placesis an electronic guide to protected historic places throughout Nova Scotia that features a database of photos, histories and detailed descriptions of Nova Scotia's protected historic places.  These places are protected, also called registered, at either the provincial or municipal level under the Heritage Property Act, municipal by-laws and the Special Places Act.
Rehabilitation The action or process of making possible a continuing or compatible contemporary use for a historic place, or of an individual component, through repair, alterations and/or additions, while protecting its heritage value.
Restoration The action or process of accurately revealing, recovering or representing the state of a historic place, or of an individual component, as it appeared at a particular period in its history, while protecting its heritage value.
Substantial alteration Any action that affects or alters the character-defining elements of a property.
Treatment Relates to different conservation approaches and, in respect to planning, is easily determined as it is wholly dependent on the heritage value and the manner in which the property will be used.
Use For the purpose of conservation planning, the term “Use” defines the intended function of a historic property following the completion of a conservation project. The three types of use are:
  • The place will continue to be used in the same manner it currently is.
  • The place requires interventions in order to allow an enhanced form of the current use or to accommodate a compatible new use.
  • The place will be returned to a condition showing an earlier or original historic use.