The Ancient Monuments Society (AMS) is a

learned society A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...

and

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

in England and Wales, founded in 1924 "for the study and conservation of ancient monuments, historic buildings and fine old craftsmanship". Since October 2021, the organisation's working name has been Historic Buildings & Places (HB&P).

Role

The Ancient Monuments Society is recognised as one of the National Amenity Societies, and as such is informed of any application for listed building consent in England and Wales involving any element of demolition. Details of this arrangement are laid out from time to time by the relevant Secretary of State, most recently by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government in 2021.

Branding

In 2021, the trustees of the society decided to adopt "Historic Buildings & Places" as the working name of the organisation, as of 1 October.

Personnel

The society's president is Richard Fletcher-Vane, 2nd Baron Inglewood, and the chairman of the trustees is the architect Giles Quarme. The director from February 2023 is Liz Power, who was previously the director of the London Museum of Water & Steam.

Publications

The society publishes an annual scholarly journal, containing articles on a range of topics relating to architectural history. From 1953 to 2021, 65 volumes were published under the title ''Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society''. Following the society's rebranding in 2021, the journal was relaunched in 2022 as the ''Journal of Historic Buildings and Places'', and a new sequence of volume numbering begun. The society also publishes a more general newsletter, which appears three times a year. Until 2021, this was published jointly with the Friends of Friendless Churches, and included news relating to both organisations. From 2022, following the dissolution of the partnership with the Friends, it was relaunched in a full-colour A4 format as ''Heritage Now: The Magazine of Historic Buildings and Places''. As well as news relating directly to the society the magazine includes general articles relating to architectural history and heritage, and a selective review of recent casework that has been considered by the organisation in its role as a National Amenity Society.

Partnership with Friends of Friendless Churches

From 1993 to 2021, the Ancient Monuments Society worked in partnership with the Friends of Friendless Churches, sharing an office and staff and operating a joint membership scheme, while retaining separate finances and governing bodies. The co-operation came about because Friends of Friendless Churches was set up by

Ivor Bulmer-Thomas Ivor Bulmer-Thomas CBE FSA (30 November 1905 – 7 October 1993), born Ivor Thomas, was a British journalist and scientific writer who served eight years as a Member of Parliament (MP). His career was much influenced by his conversion to the C ...

, who was also Secretary and later Chairman of the Ancient Monuments Society. The arrangement was amicably dissolved at the request of the Friends, effective 27 September 2021.Report of the Trustees and Financial Statements, year ended 31 March 2021. p.3. Friends of Friendless Churches.

References

External links

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Archives of ''Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society''
{{Authority control Organizations established in 1924 Conservation in the United Kingdom Clubs and societies in London Architectural history Charities based in London Heritage organisations in the United Kingdom Conservation and restoration organizations Monuments and memorials in the United Kingdom Learned societies of the United Kingdom