Three separate historic buildings councils were created by the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act 1953, one for each of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Each Historic Buildings Council advised the relevant government minister on the exercise of powers under the 1953 Act relating to the preservation of

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s and other buildings of special architectural or historic interest, including applications for grants. Responsibilities for advice in relation to the

Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the laws on granting of planning permission for building works, notably including those of the listed building system in En ...

were added latter. All three have now been abolished and replaced by other bodies. *The Historic Buildings Council for England was abolished by section 39 of the

National Heritage Act 1983 National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

; its functions, and those of the

Ancient Monuments Board English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

for England, were taken up by

Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wi ...

(better known as

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

). *The Historic Buildings Council for Scotland was abolished, along with various other public bodies, including the

for Scotland, by section 4 of the Public Appointments and Public Bodies etc (Scotland) Act 2003 (2003 asp 4) and its functions were taken up by a new advisory body, the Historic Environment Advisory Council for Scotland, which itself was dissolved in 2012. *The Historic Buildings Council for Wales underwent a quinquennial review in 2002, which concluded that it was effective and provided value for money, and, subject to some changes to enable its future development and structure to be determined in a more flexible way, should continue in existence. However, it was abolished by statutory instrument in 2006, and all of its property was transferred to the

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English language, English and () in Welsh language, Welsh, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes ...

. It and the

Ancient Monuments Board for Wales Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

were re-established as an advisory council, the

Historic Buildings Advisory Council for Wales History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

. A fourth Historic Buildings Council, for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, was created by the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1972. It continues to exist, now regulated by the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991. It retains responsibility for the listing buildings of special architectural or historic interest in Northern Ireland, designating

Conservation Areas Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

, and the preservation of listed buildings.

References

Defunct organisations based in the United Kingdom {{UK-hist-stub