A History of the National Heritage Collection, Volume Four: 1913-1931 The Ancient Monuments Branch under Peers and Baines
Author(s): Sebastian Fry
This is Volume Four in a series of eight reports, which describe the formation of the national collection of ancient monuments and historic buildings from 1882 to 1983 in the context of legislation and other available means of protecting heritage. The report covers the period from 1913 to 1931. An account is given of the introduction of the 1913 Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act, which was a turning point both in terms of heritage protection and the national collection. The Act introduced the first compulsory form of protection through the issuing of Preservation Orders. It also saw the beginnings of statutory designation through the scheduling of ancient monuments and uninhabited historic buildings, which widened protection to thousands of privately owned sites for the first time. The growth of the national collection continued under Charles Peers, head of the Ancient Monuments Branch of the Office of Works, albeit with a temporary halt during the First World War. Most new guardianship sites were medieval castles and abbeys. New acquisitions included Stonehenge, Rievaulx Abbey, Whitby Abbey, Lindisfarne Priory, Portchester Castle and Tintagel Castle. Peers and his Principal Architect, Sir Frank Baines, determined the presentation of these monuments; a legacy that can still be seen today.
- Report Number:
- 48/2014
- Series:
- Research Report
- Pages:
- 125
