Posted on: August 31, 2023 by Ruth Redmond-Cooper
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, on the advice of Historic England, announced recently that the hulk of the nineteenth-century iron steamship, Lady Alice Kenlis, located at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk has been granted protection as a Scheduled Monument. The hulk (the term is used to describe an old ship which has been permanently […]
Posted on: August 14, 2023 by Rebecca Hawkes-Reynolds
The month of July saw two opposing planning decisions being made with one thing in common: their subject and focus being designated heritage assets; Stonehenge and the proposed tunnel within its vicinity and the Marks and Spencer building on Oxford Street, London. Both of them highlight the complexity of dealing with heritage assets within the […]
Posted on: July 3, 2023 by Lilian Palmer
On 2 May 2023, the government published the draft Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, which outlines the requirements that venues and other organisations will need to meet in order to ensure public safety and preparedness in case of a terrorist attack. The Bill, also known as Martyn’s Law as a tribute to Martyn Hett, one […]
Posted on: June 16, 2023 by Lilian Palmer
On 23 May, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) announced in a press release that the Ivory Act 2018 will be extended to include five new species. A government consultation found that, of the 98% of respondents who expressed a preference, 93% were in favour of broadening the Act to include the […]
Posted on: May 9, 2023 by Rebecca Hawkes-Reynolds
Any mention of a shipwreck being found immediately conjures up the wildest possible imaginings in most people’s minds – treasure chests full of gold, pearl necklaces, stone studded jewels and other magnificent objects. Alongside the treasure, our imaginations are also filled with scenes of uninhabited islands in the Caribbean with white sand, turquoise water and […]
Posted on: May 5, 2023 by Lilian Palmer
The UK’s Spoliation Advisory Panel, which handles claims relating to lost possession of cultural property during the Nazi era, has not published a new report in seven years. As such, their most recent recommendation, published on 28 March 2023, is particularly worthy of note. The Panel has recommended that a landscape painting by leading French […]
Posted on: April 14, 2023 by Geoffrey Bennett
One might say that if the law of Treasure has slumbered throughout most of its long history it has now had a rude awakening. Its obscure origins in Anglo-Norman common law had nothing to do with preserving items of cultural interest and probably everything to do with a source of revenue for the Crown, albeit […]
Posted on: April 3, 2023 by Alexander Herman
An incredible piece of news dropped on the rather inauspicious time of Friday afternoon. This was the announcement of a plan by the National Portrait Gallery in London (NPG) and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles to jointly acquire the famous ‘Portrait of Omai’ by Joshua Reynolds (left), a work that has been export deferred […]
Posted on: March 19, 2023 by Elizabeth Pearson
The fate of four Aboriginal spears taken by the crew of the HM Bark Endeavour in 1770 now rests with the English Charity Commission, after Trinity College Cambridge decided to seek approval to permanently return the items from its Cook-Sandwich collection to Traditional Owners in Australia. The hunting spear and pronged fishing spears were amongst […]
Posted on: March 11, 2023 by Hugh Johnson-Gilbert
As the controversial Online Safety Bill (“OSB”) makes its way through the House of Lords, we consider what implications it might pose for the online art world. Introduced in March 2022, the stated purpose of the OSB is to ‘make the UK the safest place in the world to be online while defending free expression’. […]