Delays to a new heritage payments scheme for farmers risk “erasing and damaging history”, with monuments including Hadrian’s Wall under threat, the National Trust has warned.

Payments to reward farmers for looking after the environment on their land are also supposed to compensate them for preserving Britain’s historic monuments and archaeology, but this has been delayed, leading to a brewing row with the Trust which warns that heritage is being put at risk.

The first phase of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) launched in November with the Government set to reward farmers for keeping their soil covered in winter and reducing runoff from their land to reduce water pollution.

The SFI is part of plans to phase out EU-era subsidies by 2024, with a move towards more sustainable and environmentally friendly practices instead of blanket payments based on land ownership.

But plans to include dry stone walls, traditional farm buildings and burial sites have been pushed to the back of the queue.

Countryside and heritage groups said these aspects were originally supposed to come out in the second phase of the scheme, set to launch after the initial rollout at the start of 2022, but they are now scheduled for 2025.

Announcement sees ‘nature as a side show and risks erasing or damaging history’ 

The Trust also raised concerns over the scheme’s focus on encouraging farmers not to damage historic monuments on their land, rather than providing opportunities to improve them as current schemes do.

The Trust said the Government was “downplaying the importance of heritage and the need to help farmers care for the historic features on their land”.

Ingrid Samuel, director of historic environment at the National Trusts said: “To push back the early introduction of the planned ‘heritage standard’ to 2025 shows Defra hasn’t grasped how natural and cultural heritage is so intertwined in the farmed landscape.

“More concerning is that there is only a requirement to protect against damage to historic features in the current plans.

“This would miss a unique opportunity to enhance the rich and distinctive heritage of our countryside while providing wider public benefit.

“This announcement sees nature as a side show, and an optional one at that, but it also risks erasing or damaging history.”

Bronze Age burial sites and Roman villas also at risk 

The Heritage at Risk register, compiled by Historic England, shows that several parts of Hadrian’s Wall are in an unsatisfactory condition and at risk from arable ploughing.

Other sites at risk include hundreds of barrows, ancient burial sites, Roman villas and the remains of medieval forts.

A significant amount of Britain’s archaeological heritage is thought to have been damaged by agricultural activity over the years, with most of Britain’s Bronze Age burial sites destroyed by ploughing or looting.