| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Citation | 21 & 22 Geo. 5. c. 16 |
|---|---|
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 |
Status: Repealed | |
The Ancient Monuments Act 1931 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that aimed to improve the protection afforded to ancient monuments in Britain.
The Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 had begun the process of establishing legal protection for some of Britain's ancient monuments; these had all been prehistoric sites, such as ancient tumuli. The Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1900 had continued this process, empowering the government's Commissioners of Works and local county councils to protect a wider range of properties. In 1908 a royal commission concluded that there were gaps between these two pieces of legislation, and the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1910. These were felt to be unwieldy, and the Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act 1913 repealed all three, replacing them with the new Ancient Monuments Board to oversee the protection of such monuments. Powers were given for the board, with parliamentary approval, to issue preservation orders and to protect the lands immediately around an ancient monument. [1]
The Ancient Monuments Act 1931 was passed to deal with gaps in this system. In particular, the new act extended the definition of an ancient monument to include a cave or an underground archaeological artefact; it also extended the powers of the state to manage development in the area around an ancient monument, allowing them to introduce preservation schemes to protect the wider neighbourhood. [2]
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural and/or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, Cadw in Wales, and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency in Northern Ireland. The term has also been used in the Republic of Ireland, where buildings are protected under the Planning and Development Act 2000, although the statutory term in Ireland is "protected structure".
The Office of Public Works (OPW) is a major Irish Government agency, which manages most of the Irish State's property portfolio, including hundreds of owned and rented Government offices and police properties, oversees National Monuments and directly manages some heritage properties, and is the lead State engineering agency, with a special focus on flood risk management. It lies within the remit of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, with functions largely delegated to a Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform with special responsibility for the Office. The OPW has a central role in driving the Government's property asset management reform process, both in respect of its own portfolio and that of the wider public service. The agency was initially known as Board of Works, a title inherited from a preceding body, and this term is still sometimes encountered.
The Antiquities Act of 1906, is an act that was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906. This law gives the president of the United States the authority to, by presidential proclamation, create national monuments from federal lands to protect significant natural, cultural, or scientific features. The Act has been used more than a hundred times since its enactment.
Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK) is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philosophical concept that became popular in the twentieth century, which maintains that cities as products of centuries' development should be obligated to protect their patrimonial legacy. The term refers specifically to the preservation of the built environment, and not to preservation of, for example, primeval forests or wilderness.
An ancient monument can refer to any early or historical manmade structure and/or architecture. Certain ancient monuments are of cultural importance for nations and become symbols of international recognition, including the ruins of Baalbek on Lebanese currency, the Angkor Wat on Cambodian currency and the Great Wall of China on the Chinese currency. There are some countries that display ancient buildings as symbols on their coats of arms as a way to affirm national identity. In this way, ancient monuments in the modern world are used as icons to represent a country. The importance of ancient monuments extends to cultural heritage and how the people of a nation or city identify themselves.
Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by society.
The Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was introduced by John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, recognising the need for a governmental administration on the protection of ancient monuments, and was finally passed after a number of failed attempts on heritage protection acts. The gradual change towards a state-based authority responsible for the safeguarding of the Kingdom's national heritage manifested itself through the appointment of the first Inspector of Ancient Monuments in 1882, General Pitt Rivers.
The Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provides protection for designated shipwrecks.
The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) was a government advisory body responsible for documenting buildings and monuments of archaeological, architectural and historical importance in England. It was established in 1908 ; and was merged with English Heritage in 1999. The research section and the archive are now part of Historic England.
Historic England is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with protecting the historic environment of England by preserving and listing historic buildings, scheduling ancient monuments, registering historic parks and gardens and by advising central and local government.
A Cultural Property is administered by the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs, and includes tangible properties ; intangible properties ; folk properties both tangible and intangible; monuments historic, scenic and natural; cultural landscapes; and groups of traditional buildings. Buried properties and conservation techniques are also protected. Together these cultural properties are to be preserved and utilized as the heritage of the Japanese people.
The destruction of country houses in 20th-century Britain was the result of a change in social conditions: many country houses of varying architectural merit were demolished by their owners. Collectively termed by several authors "the lost houses", the destruction of these now often-forgotten houses has been described as a cultural tragedy.
The Ancient Monuments Act 1900 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that aimed to improve the protection afforded to ancient monuments in Great Britain.
The Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1910 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that aimed to improve the protection afforded to ancient monuments in Britain.
The Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act 1913 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that aimed to improve the protection afforded to ancient monuments in Britain.
National Heritage Act is a stock short title used in Malaysia and the United Kingdom for legislation relating to national heritage.
The Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904 was passed on 18 March 1904 by British India during the times of Lord Curzon. It is expedient to provide for the preservation of ancient monuments, for the exercise of control over traffic in antiquities and over excavation in certain places, and for the protection and acquisition in certain cases of ancient monuments and of objects of archaeological, historical or artistic interest. Act preserves and restores ancient Indian monuments by Archaeological Survey of India.
Sir Charles Reed Peers was an English architect, archaeologist and preservationist. After a 10-year gap following the death of Lieutenant-General Augustus Pitt Rivers in 1900, Peers became England's second Inspector of Ancient Monuments from 1910 and was then the first Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments from 1913 to 1933.
Many parts of Scotland are protected in accordance with a number of national and international designations because of their environmental, historical or cultural value. Protected areas can be divided according to the type of resource which each seeks to protect. NatureScot has various roles in the delivery of many environmental designations in Scotland, i.e. those aimed at protecting flora and fauna, scenic qualities and geological features. Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designations that protect sites of historic and cultural importance. Some international designations, such as World Heritage Sites, can cover both categories of site.
