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tion or ruinous; and of the earthworks 52% were in " good " or " fair " condition while 

 48% were in " bad " condition. All the monuments to which these figures refer were of 

 a date anterior to 1700. 



The Scottish report on Wigtownshire calls attention to the damage that is being 

 done to prehistoric monuments, more especially cairns, by the removal of the stones of 

 which they are composed for road metal, and also to the obliteration of original struc- 

 tures by the practice of utilising the sites of such monuments for the disposal of pebbles 

 and boulders gathered from the fields. 



- In Wales special attention is called in the Report on Flintshire to the fate pending 

 for the ruins of Diserth Castle, which ultimately must be blown to pieces with the ad- 

 vance of quarrying operations on the hill on which it stands. 



For each county visited, the three Commissions append a list of those monuments 

 which in their opinion are most worthy of preservation, and when complete the country 

 will be fully seised of the nature and number of its ancient monuments and will be able 

 to form some idea of their comparative value. In the meantime, the Office of Works 

 has appointed a special staff to deal with the monuments brought under its charge, and 

 is collecting from county councils and learned societies a preliminary list of the monu- 

 ments in each county to form a basis for its work under the existing Monuments Acts. 

 Further, a Bill for the consolidation and amendment of these Acts has lately been under 

 the consideration of a Committee of Parliament, and it seems probable that some system 

 of local correspondents will be established together with Advisory Boards for England, 

 Scotland and Wales to assist the First Commissioner of Works in the problems connected 

 with the acceptance and care of the monuments brought under his charge. The joint 

 Committee recommends that monuments placed under the guardianship of the Com- 

 missioners of Works or the council of a county or county borough or the equivalent 

 authorities in Scotland, should be exempt from liability for probate or death duties, and 

 suggests that cathedral churches should be included within the scope of the Bill. 

 Amendments are also suggested giving power to local authorities to regulate the display 

 of advertisements, and power to the advisory boards to give gratuitous advice as to 

 maintenance and repair, to owners of ancient monuments who invite their assistance. 

 In the Bill the expression " monument " is interpreted to mean " any immovable 

 monument, in the widest sense of the word, whose preservation is desirable in the in- 

 terests of the public on account of its importance in the history of the country, the 

 history of civilisation, or the history of architecture or art, or on account of its aesthetic 

 value. And it may include any earthwork, excavation, structure or erection as well as 

 any prehistoric or historic work of craftsmanship or art made or apparently made or 

 excavated in the United Kingdom the preservation of which is a matter of public in- 

 terest by reason of the historic, architectural, traditional, artistic or archaeological 

 interest attaching thereto, or to any remains thereof, and the expression ' monument ' 

 may include the site of any such monument, structure or erection, and any. part of the 

 adjoining land which may be reasonably required for the purpose of fencing, covering 

 in or otherwise preserving from injury the monument, structure or erection, and it 

 may also include the means of access thereto." 



With regard to '* chattels," which are not included in the Bill, the Committee was of 

 opinion that such movable property as plate and other articles of historic and artistic 

 interest as belong either to a municipal corporation or to the Established Church should 

 be subject to protection similar to that extended under the Bill to fixed objects. 



The following monuments were voluntarily placed under the Office of Works during 

 the year ended March 31, 1912: Old Machar Cathedral (ruined parts), Aberdeen, 

 Aberdeenshire; Gateway Tower, Chester Castle, Cheshire; Richard Ill's Tower, the 

 curtain walls, etc., Carlisle Castle, Cumberland; Blackfriars' Church (remains), St. 

 Andrews, Fifcshire; Weobley Castle, Gower, Glamorganshire; St. Martin's Church, 

 Haddington, Haddingtonshire; Kirby Muxloe Castle, Leicestershire; Maclellan's 

 Castle, Kirkcudbrightshire; the Bishop's and Earl's Palaces, Kirkwall, Orkney; the 

 Old Church, Westray, Orkney; the Old Bridge, Stirling, Stirlingshire. In all the Office 



