A committee, headed by Lord Beauchamp and including among its
members Bishop Browne, Sir Hercules Read, Sir Lionel Earle, and Sir Martin Conway, has reported to the Office of Works that the Ancient Monuments Act of 1913 needs amend- ment. The department's powers of issuing temporary preserva- tion orders where monuments are in actual danger of destruc- tion have proved to be unworkable. The committee would give the department the right, after inquiry, to make a permanent order and to compensate the owner. It recognizes the necessity of assisting poor owners, especially by loans, to keep historic monuments in repair. In the case of inhabited houses, parts of which are of antiquarian interest, and should therefore be pre- served in their existing state, the committee thinks that the owners should receive consideration from the Inland Revenue and the rating authorities, who should assess only the portions of the house which are actually used from day to day for purposes of modern life." This. is a sensible suggestion.
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