SESSION 1899-1900. lix 



life ; and for this purpose to accept, from private owners of property, 

 gifts of places of interest or beauty, and to hold the laud, houses, 

 and other property thus acquii-ed, iu trust for the use and enjoyment 

 of the nation." 



^fr. Hhikiston tlieu touched iipon the wealth of the British Isles 

 in buildings of historic interest, and on the non-existence here of 

 a Minister of State one of whose fuiu'tions was their preservation. 

 The extraordinary growth in the size of our towns during the reign 

 of Queen Victoria had made the last fifty years a peculiarly 

 disastrous period as regards the destruction of ancient monuments, 

 apart from such destruction as altered circumstances had made 

 inevitable. Children were therefore now brought up with little 

 or nothing around them to stimulate their imaginations, or to help 

 them to realize the history of the past. And these islands were 

 looked upon as "home" by millions of people scattered over the 

 face of the earth, who might fairly expect to find that the ancient 

 monuments existing only in the centre of the British Empire were 

 carefully preserved by those dwelling around them. 



He then referred to some of the work already done by the Trust. 

 It had purchased Barras Head opposite Tintagel Castle, and a most 

 beautiful cliff overlooking Barmouth had been presented to it by 

 a lady. Toys' Hill, near Oxted, Kent, and Ide Hill in the same 

 district, had also been acquired. The purchase and restoration 

 of the old Clergy House at Alfriston, Sussex, and of Joiner's Hall, 

 Salisbury, had secured to the nation two fine specimens of mediaeval 

 domestic architecture. The Falkland monument on the battlefield 

 at Newbury, Berks, was also under the care of the Trust. And 

 it had recently purchased in AVicken Fen, Cambridgeshire, a piece 

 of the primitive fenland, which will remain for ever undrained and 

 untouched, with its original plant- and animal-life. 



The task before them, he said, was one which could not be 

 achieved either by a national society acting by itself or by local 

 societies acting by themselves. jS^o central society could possess 

 the full and complete information in a given case which some 

 local society possessed, nor could it influence local feeling to the 

 same degree. On the other hand, no local society is so fully in 

 touch with Parliament or can appeal to so large a public as a great 

 central society. Coming to practical details, the two important 

 points were the creation of local committees to watch over the 

 ancient monuments of each county or district, and the formation 

 of a central fund. The Trust experienced much difficulty in 

 obtaining timely informaticm, and thought that a federation of 

 local societies would provide machinery to obviate this difficulty. 

 The creation of a central fund would enormously strengthen the 

 hands of the federated societies, by enabling their representatives 

 to purchase properties of national interest, or to make grants 

 towards their purchase. With a small subscription and a large 

 membership a very considerable sum might be raised, from which 

 gi'ants could be made in local cases. The details of the scheme 

 would of course require careful consideration, and he would be 



