Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK) is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philosophical concept that became popular in the twentieth century, which maintains that cities as products of centuries' development should be obligated to protect their patrimonial legacy. The term refers specifically to the preservation of the built environment, and not to preservation of, for example, primeval forests or wilderness.Maryland Association of Historic District Commissions, Handbook (1997).
History
France
In 1790, Aubin-Louis Millin submitted a report to the Constituent Assembly regarding the demolition of the Bastille, using the term "monument historique" (). The idea of preserving sites linked to the Ancien régime and earlier circulated as a result, and under impetus of Talleyrand, the Assembly, on the 13th of October, created the commission des monuments () whose function was to "study the fate of monuments, arts, and sciences." The following year, Alexandre Lenoir was appointed to create the Musée des Monuments français (), which opened in 1795 and exhibited fragments of architecture Lenoir had saved and salvaged from destruction over the previous years. The museum was ultimately closed during the Restoration by Louis XVIII, and its collection was returned to the original owners and their families.
The vandalism and widespread destruction which accompanied the French Revolution had inspired several such responses, and the first known register of such buildings was an inventory of the castles begun by Louis XVI by the conseil des bâtiments civils (), which was completed in 1795. Between 1804 and 1834, several archaeological societies were formed, notably the Société des antiquaires de France in 1804 (originally the Académie celtique), the Société française d'archéologie in 1834, and the Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques also in 1834.
In 1819, the Ministry of the Interior provided an allowance for monuments historiques for the first time, and, on 21 October 1830, François Guizot (then Minister of the Interior) proposed the creation of a post, the , to classify buildings and distribute funds for their preservation. This post was first assigned to Ludovic Vitet on 25 November 1830, and later to Prosper Mérimée on 27 May 1834. In 1837, Bachasson, in his capacity of Minister of the Interior, officially established the Commission des monuments historiques () to carry out the work of classification and producing an inventory, as well as distributing funding and training architects for restoration work (Eugène Viollet-le-Duc among them). The Commission published its first inventory in 1840, and subsequently continued its inventory work, as well as create visual records for any future restoration. To this end, it created the Mission Héliographique to photograph monuments in 1851. During this period, the combination of reluctance to understand the government's prerogatives and the fact that the classification of private property required the owners' consent resulted in the gradual decrease in the number of registered monuments.
On 2 May 1887, a law was passed establishing procedures for the classification of historic monuments as well as establish provisions for a body of for their upkeep. In 1906, French law laid down principles of classification of natural sites. Under the 1905 Law of Separation of Church and State, local communities and the government were entrusted with the care and upkeep of religious buildings, however, this led to refusal to care for buildings not of "national interest" by some and the auctioning off of heritage by others. Per consequence, on 13 December 1913, a law was passed which widened the field of protection for classified monuments, including changing "national interest" to "public interest" and allowing the classification of private property without the consent of the owner. During the 1920s and 1930s, classification further opened up to private property; additionally, monuments post-dating the Ancien régime began to be classified. In 1925, a second order of classification was introduced: inscription à l'inventaire supplémentaire des monuments historiques ().
In 1930, the classifications were renamed "classé" and "inscrit" () and classification was allowed to include the land immediately surrounding a classified building. During the Nazi Occupation, numerous classifications were made both in order to prevent destruction of monuments and to provide some protection from compulsory labour.
United Kingdom In England, antiquarian interests were a familiar gentleman's pursuit since the mid 17th century, developing in tandem with the rise in scientific curiosity. Fellows of the Royal Society were often also Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries.
Many historic sites were damaged as the railways began to spread across the UK, these sites included Trinity Hospital and its church in Edinburgh, Furness Abbey, Berwick and Northampton Castle, as well as the ancient walls of York, Chester and Newcastle. In 1833 Berkhamsted Castle became the first historic site in England to be officially protected by statute, under the London and Birmingham Railway Acts of 18331837, though the new railway line in 1834 did demolish the castle's gatehouse and outer earthworks to the south.
In 1847 the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust was formed by a local act of Parliament, the Shakespeare Birthplace, &c., Trust Act 1891 (54 & 55 Vict. c. iii), to prevent the Stratford property's sale to American showman P. T. Barnum.Supporting the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Retrieved 29 October 2012
Another early preservation event also occurred at Berkhamsted. In 1866, Lord Brownlow who lived at Ashridge House, tried to enclose the adjoining Berkhamsted Common with steel fences in an attempt to claim it as part of his estate. In England from early Anglo-Saxon times, Common land was an area of land which the local community could use as a resource. Across England between 1660 and 1845, 7 million acres of Common land had been enclosed by private land owners by application to parliament. On the night of 6 March 1866, Augustus Smith MP led gangs of local folk and hired men from London's East End in direct action to break the enclosure fences and protect Berkhamsted Common for the people of Berkhamsted in what became known nationally as the Battle of Berkhamsted Common.... In 1870, Sir Robert Hunter (later co-founder of the National Trust in 1895) and the Commons Preservation Society succeed in legal action that ensured protection of Berkhamsted Common and other open spaces threatened with enclosure. In 1926 the common was acquired by the National Trust.
By the mid 19th century, much of Britain's unprotected cultural heritage was being slowly destroyed. Even well-meaning archaeologists like William Greenwell excavated sites with virtually no attempt at their preservation, Stonehenge came under increasing threat by the 1870s. Tourists were chipping off parts of the stones or carving their initials into the rock. The private owners of the monument decided to sell the land to the London and South-Western Railway who stated that the monument was "not the slightest use to anyone now". John Lubbock, an MP and botanist emerged as the champion of the country's national heritage. In 1872 he personally bought private land that housed ancient monuments in Avebury, Silbury Hill and elsewhere, from the owners who were threatening to have them cleared away to make room for housing. Soon, he began campaigning in Parliament for legislation to protect monuments from destruction. This finally led to the legislative milestone under the Liberal government of William Gladstone of the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882. The first government appointed inspector for this job was the archaeologist Augustus Pitt-Rivers. This legislation was regarded by conservative political elements as a grave assault on the individual rights of property of the owner, and consequently, the inspector only had the power to identify endangered landmarks and offer to purchase them from the owner with his consent. The Act only covered ancient monuments and explicitly did not cover historic buildings or structures. In 1877 the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings was founded by the Arts and Crafts designer William Morris to prevent the destruction of historic buildings, followed by the National Trust in 1895 that bought estates from their owners for preservation.Bryson, Bill. "At Home: A Short History of Private Life" Transworld Publishers, 2010
The Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 had only given legal protection to prehistoric sites, such as ancient tumuli. The Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1900 took this further by empowering the government's Commissioners of Work and local County Councils to protect a wider range of properties. Further updates were made in 1910.
Tattershall Castle, Lincolnshire, a medieval manor house had been put up for sale in 1910 with its greatest treasures, the huge medieval fireplaces, still intact. However, when an American bought the house they were ripped out and packaged up for shipping. The former viceroy of India, George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, was outraged at this cultural destruction and stepped in to buy back the castle and reinstall the fireplaces. After a nationwide hunt for them they were finally found in London and returned. He restored the castle and left it to the National Trust on his death in 1925. His experience at Tattershall influenced Lord Curzon to push for tougher heritage protection laws in Britain, which saw passage as the Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act 1913.
The new structure involved the creation of the Ancient Monuments Board to oversee the protection of such monuments. Powers were given to the board, with Parliamentary approval, to issue preservation orders to protect monuments, and extended the public right of access to these. The term "monument" was extended to include the lands around it, allowing the protection of the wider landscape.Mynors, p.9.
The National Trust
The National Trust was founded in 1894 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter, and Hardwicke Canon Rawnsley as the first organisation of its type in the world. Its formal purpose is: The preservation for the benefit of the Nation of lands and tenements (including buildings) of beauty or historic interest and, as regards lands, for the preservation of their natural aspect, features and animal and plant life. Also the preservation of furniture, pictures and chattels of any description having national and historic or artistic interest.
In the early days, the Trust was concerned primarily with protecting open spaces and a variety of threatened buildings. Its first acquisition was Dinas Oleu, a piece of land on the clifftop above Barmouth in Wales, donated in 1895. Two other sites acquired by the Trust in its early years later became nature reserves: Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire and Blakeney Point in Norfolk. White Barrow on Salisbury Plain was the Trust's first archaeological monument, purchased in 1909 for £60. The focus on country houses and gardens, which now comprise the majority of its most visited properties, came about in the mid 20th century, when it was realised that the private owners of many of these properties were no longer able to afford to maintain them.
English Heritage English Heritage formed in 1983, is a registered charity that looks after the National Heritage Collection in England. This comprises over 400 of England's historic buildings, monuments and sites spanning more than 5,000 years of history. Within its portfolio are Stonehenge, Dover Castle, Tintagel Castle and the best preserved parts of Hadrian's Wall.