CANNOT EXPORT

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 90, 7 December 1931, Page 5

CANNOT EXPORT

MEDIEVAL HOUSES INGENIOUS " STATUTE FRAMED TO SAVE HISTORICAL RESIDENCES HUMOROUS SITUATION Part of our medieval heritage consists of the old houses'that are scattered up and down the country and j still used as homes. During recent | years the question has continually cropped up as to whether an American, say, can buy one of these, pack it up and transport it across the other side of the Atlantic. So far as the engineering side is concerned (writes a correspontent in an English paper) it might be quite possible to transfer say, a "magpie" house of Cheshire or, perhaps, even a solider structure such as Stokesay, to another continent. But can any legal rest'raint be brought to bear? Contary to the opinion held but a short time ago, the answer now appears to be yes — the export of a house of historical or architectural importanee can be prohibited. But the matter is not so clear-cut that it presents no difficulty. Perhaps the clearest view of the situation would come through a brief glance at the events that lead to this change of opinion. Changed Bill. When the Ancient Monuments Bill (1931) was presented for second reading- before the House of Lords last December it contained a clause by which the Commissioners of Works were enpowered to prohibit by order the export of any ancient monument (whether an occupied dwelling-house or not). Opposition to the clause led Lord Ponsonby, who was in charge of the Bill, to promise to reconsider the matter at committee stage. When this stage was reached Lord Ponsonby moved to leave out the clause. He explained that on a very close examination of the present powers of the Office of Works they had found that they could intervene. They had taken legal advice and were quite clear that the Office of Works could step in and prevent tne export of any really valuable historical house. The process envisaged is decidedly ingenious. Although the Ancient Monuments Act (1913) gave the Commissloner of Works very ample powers over ancient monuments, these powers were cut short at dwellinghouses. An Englishman's home was still his castle, inviolate. This being so, it was taken for granted that the same Englishman could sell and export it, without let or hinderance. But, at a late hour the ingenuity of the Office of Works and presumably the law offieers of the Crown found a way out, albeit an intrieate and circuitous way.. They claiined that before a dwelling-house was exported the dwelling house must be vacated. In a trice, so the Commissioners maintain, it comes under the Act", it is no longer a dwelling-house. (The situation is not without its humour. Lord Raglan, in fact, suggested that if an owner wished to export his house all he has to do is to live on theground floor while the upper stories are being removed.) Cannot be Removed The actual process by which the prohibition to export would be excerised would be under section 6 of the Act of 1913 by which the Commissioners may make a "Preservation Order" where any monument is in danger of removal (amongst other things) . By such an order the "monument" is taken straight-way under the protective wing of the Commissioners, and section 7 provides that while the order is in force the monument cannot be removed. The order, in the event of the objection of the owner expires at the end of 21 months unless it is confirmed by Parliament, otherwise it continues in force until the Commissioners themselves revoke it. Sueh a situation, in which the Commissioners step in and take over, as it were, the house direetly the owner or tenant vacates it, has some of the features of a "hold-up". Anyhow, such is the process contemplated by the Office of Works when the occasion arises where they decide to step in . Whether a court would maintain this interpertation of the Act is another question. Law offieers of the Crown, like general councils of the Church, "may err, and • sometimes have erred." But the mere fact that the Office of Works claims this power is in itself a certain deterrent to any scheme for exporting an historical house. Anyhow, it is a gesture of discouragement to the trans-atlantic treasure-hunter.