ABSTRACT
Ancient monuments were the first historic items to be protected in this country. As we saw in Chapter 2, legislation for their preservation was first passed in the 1880s and predated that for historic buildings by some 60 years. Quite why the two codes have never been brought together is something of a mystery. Certainly to anyone from outside the United Kingdom it is odd that there are two quite separate pieces of legislation for ancient monuments and historic buildings. But perhaps it is the topsylike growth of heritage legislation in this country which has produced the anomaly; and which will no doubt perpetuate it for years to come.
