ABSTRACT
The law relating to historic buildings and ancient monuments centres on the idea of protection. The first legislation, Sir John Lubbock's Ancient Monuments Act, 1882, was based on the novel idea that a landowner did not have a right to destroy remains of former settlements which happened to be on his property. The idea of stopping individuals destroying monuments of interest was long opposed because it conflicted with what was claimed as a basic right, that of property. Sir John Lubbock's Act, passed after a decade of argument, represented the thinnest end of the wedge, since an ancient monument, being unoccupied for the most part, was fairly far removed from the connotations of an Englishman's home. English Heritage (HBMC) also has to be informed if the building concerned in an application is Grade I or II*, or has been grant-aided by central government. If the local authority is minded to grant consent, the HBMC has again to be informed.
