ABSTRACT
In this chapter, unless specified, all references relate to the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act (LBA) 1990.
The latter half of the 19th century saw the beginnings of a movement to ensure the protection of ancient buildings, structures and monuments. In 1877, William Morris founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), and this led to the first measure of statutory protection, the Ancient Monument Protection Act 1882. The protection of buildings in daily use, as distinct from ancient monuments, was not afforded until the Planning Act 1932. Subsequent Planning Acts included measures for the protection of individual buildings, but it was not until the Civic Amenities Act 1967, that protection was afforded to areas subsequently known as ‘Conservation Areas’. This provision resulted to a large extent from a Court of Appeal decision (see Earl of Iveagh v Minister of Housing and Local Government [1963] All ER 817; 1 QB 395), which held that a building might be of special interest by reason of its setting as one of a group.
