ABSTRACT
In 1869 the First Commissioner of Works did a remarkable thing. At a time when the government had not as yet acknowledged any responsibility for ancient monuments, he asked the Society of Antiquaries to ‘furnish a list of such Regal and other Historical Tombs or Monuments existing in Cathedrals, Churches and other Public Places and buildings as in their opinion it would be desirable to place under the protection and supervision of the government, with a view to their proper custody and protection.’ The Society duly obliged, the Church authorities protested, and the government did nothing about it. Why the Commissioner took this bold initiative is not known, but it may well have had the untoward result of putting the Church authorities on their guard and prepared them to ensure that, when the Ancient Monuments Act of 1882 was introduced, ecclesiastical buildings in use were excluded from it. It was an unfortunate start to the government’s involvement with ancient monuments and no doubt deterred it from going down that route for more than a decade.
