Historic Buildings & Places (HBAP) is the working name of the Ancient Monuments Society (AMS), founded in 1924 and thus celebrating its centenary this year. Giles Quarme, Chair of HBAP, explains in the spring edition of Heritage Now, the society’s quarterly magazine, that the original name was chosen to reflect the title of the Ancient Monuments Act of 1913.
The aim of the fledgling society was to make sure that the legislative framework of this pioneering Act was effective in protecting heritage against what Professor Thomas Tout, in his inaugural address, described as ‘the Demon of Restoration and Demolition’, arguing that ancient monuments and historic buildings ‘tend to diversify the monotony of modern life and ought at all cost to be saved’.
Today, we would argue that heritage should be valued for its contribution to the economy, sustainability, health, and wellbeing – not just as an antidote to monotony – but HBAP remains faithful to the founders’ philosophy in its engagement with the planning system. Along with the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), the Georgian Group, the Victorian Society, the Twentieth Century Society, and the Gardens Trust, it is one of the ‘statutory amenity societies’ that play a key role in scrutinising listed building and faculty applications, as well as in putting reasoned objections to unsuitable proposals – such as the post-war plans to drive a new road through the heart of historic Conwy, or to build a power station alongside Durham Cathedral.
