The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca

• 298 • Timothy Darvill
never published the results. Leland died insane in
1552, but the idea of cataloguing, recording and
trying to preserve archaeological remains endured.
In the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, interest in the preservation and care of
monuments can be glimpsed in the writings of
antiquaries such as William Camden (1561–1623),
John Aubrey (1626–1697), William Stukeley (1687–
1765) and James Douglas (1753–1819). All, however,
were operating in the intellectual traditions of the
Age of Enlightenment and the political climate of
con-servatism. It was not until the scientific
revolution, positivist thinking and Liberal political
reforms of the mid-nineteenth century that things
Figure 17.1 Ancient monuments in the countryside: a
Bronze Age round barrow cemetery on King Barrow Ridge, started to change.
Amesbury, Wiltshire.
Concerns about the destruction of archaeological
Source: Timothy Darvill
remains, and the need to protect them, appear in
numerous antiquarian accounts printed in the later
nineteenth century. At a meeting of the International Congress on Prehistoric Archaeology held
in Norwich in August 1868, a committee was set up to try to prevent the destruction of monuments
in Brittany, and soon after a Committee of the Ethnological Society was formed for the purpose
of describing and preserving the prehistoric monuments of Britain and Ireland.
In 1870, John Lubbock, later Lord Avebury, introduced into Parliament a Bill that later became
the first piece of ancient monuments legislation, The Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882. Although
limited in its coverage and powers, it established precedents for state control over the destiny of
important archaeological sites. On January 1st 1883, General Pitt Rivers, a well-known and
established archaeologist, took up the post of the first Inspector of Ancient Monuments, a role
he continued until his death in 1900.
The impact, expansion and periodic re-enactment of Ancient Monuments legislation from
1882 down to modern times has been well documented and discussed (Saunders 1983). The early
date of the first Act is, however, important as it came much earlier than, for example, specific
legislation for the preservation of National Parks in England and Wales (1949), historic buildings
(1953), the countryside (1968) and wildlife (1981). Its limitations in relating only to important
monuments listed in a ‘schedule’ and its focus on the ‘preservation’ of remains through the
control of works are factors that have certainly conditioned, and in many ways constrained, the
development of approaches to the care of archaeological remains in Britain.
Massive wartime devastation of historic cities such as London, Bristol, Winchester, Exeter
and Southampton prompted the need for substantial archaeological provision during
redevelopment. Indeed, the need had been recognized even before the end of the war when, in
March 1944, the Council for British Archaeology was founded to promote British archaeology in
all its aspects. The principle that became established in Britain was what later became known as
‘rescue archaeology’ —the rapid recording of archaeological sites immediately in advance of
their destruction. This is all that could be done in a political climate and legal framework that
promoted a presumption in favour of development.
During the 1950s and early 1960s, a substantial group of itinerant rescue archaeologists moved
from site to site, excavating and recording remains, often in difficult and frustrating conditions
(Rahtz 1974). In a few areas, permanent excavation ‘units’ were established, Winchester being
among the first in 1961, soon followed by Southampton, Oxford, Lincoln, Colchester and others;