The Ancient Monuments Act 1931 was an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

that aimed to improve the protection afforded to ancient monuments in Britain.

Details

The

Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 The Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (as it then was). It was introduced by John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, recognising the need for a governmental administrat ...

had begun the process of establishing legal protection for some of Britain's ancient monuments; these had all been prehistoric sites, such as ancient

tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones buil ...

. The

Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1900 The Ancient Monuments Act 1900 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that aimed to improve the protection afforded to ancient monuments in Britain. Details The Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 had begun the process of establish ...

had continued this process, empowering the government's

Commissioners of Works The Office of Works was established in the English royal household in 1378 to oversee the building and maintenance of the royal castles and residences. In 1832 it became the Works Department forces within the Office of Woods, Forests, Land Reve ...

and local

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

s to protect a wider range of properties. In 1908 a royal commission concluded that there were gaps between these two pieces of legislation, and the

Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1910 The Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1910 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that aimed to improve the protection afforded to ancient monuments in Britain. Details The Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 had begun the process ...

. These were felt to be unwieldy, and the Ancient Monuments Act repealed all three in 1913, replacing them with the new Ancient Monuments Board to oversee the protection of such monuments. Powers were given for the board, with parliamentary approval, to issue preservation orders and to protect the lands immediately around an

ancient monument In British law, an ancient monument is an early historical structure or monument (e.g. an archaeological site) worthy of preservation and study due to archaeological or heritage interest. The '' Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 197 ...

. The Ancient Monuments Act was passed in 1931 to deal with gaps in this system. In particular, the new act extended the definition of an ancient monument to include a cave or an underground archaeological artefact; it also extended the powers of the state to manage development in the area around an ancient monument, allowing them to introduce preservation schemes to protect the wider neighbourhood.Mynors, p.10.

References

Bibliography

*Mynors, Charles. (2006)
Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments.
' London: Sweet and Maxwell. . {{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1931 Archaeology of the United Kingdom Archaeology law Conservation in the United Kingdom