The seas around England contain an immense wealth of archaeological sites and remains. As a country that has experienced successive waves of settlement over many centuries and as a major mercantile, naval, industrial and imperial power, England's history and the experience of many of its inhabitants have been inextricably linked to its surrounding seas.The National Heritage Act (2002) enabled English Heritage (as the UK Government's statutory advisor for heritage in England) to assume responsibilities for maritime archaeology in English Territorial Waters, modifying the agency's functions to include securing the preservation of ancient monuments in, on or under the seabed and promoting the public's enjoyment, and advancing their knowledge of ancient monuments in, on or under the seabed. This coincided with English Heritage's initial policy on maritime archaeology that seeks to address both the professional framework and amateur involvement in the marine historic environment.Maritime archaeology comprises the study of the evidence of all past human activity related to the sea around our shores. This maritime resource includes prehistoric sites that were once land, other coastal features such as early fish-traps, submerged structures from defending the English coast in the World Wars and shipwrecks from all periods. Submerged prehistoric sites may be in the seabed deposits themselves, which are known to contain in situ Palaeolithic deposits or artefacts dating back at least a quarter of a million years to periods during the many cycles of Ice Age activity when large areas of our present seabed was dry land. Shore areas, located at or near the retreating coastline from the end of the Palaeolithic and throughout the next four to five thousand years, may also exist. These sites can contain evidence of settlement or early communities' use of natural resources such as artefacts and palaeo-environmental deposits.Due to the combination of historically high volumes of shipping traffic, a long history of seafaring and a high energy coast, the density of shipwreck remains in English territorial waters is likely to be amongst the highest in the world. The public archive of English Heritage, the National Monuments Record, contains over 40 000 records of wreck sites and seabed archaeological features, documentary references, marine casu-alties and fishermen'

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