Western heritage movements emerged first at the local level, with community and
interest groups being the primary lobbyists for legislative protection and wider
government support – even if the focus of preservations was initially almost exclusively
national in focus. This article explores the Anglo-British approaches to heritage
preservation over the past century which, initially, reflected a continued move towards
localism, but, in recent years, has found itself at a crossroads, where, if it wants to further
embrace community localism, fundamental changes are required in the basic attitudes
towards, and notions of, heritage governance. Beginning with a brief outline of the
heritage movement’s evolution, this article then seeks to explore the issue of ‘place’ in
shaping individual and community attachment to heritage sites and landscapes. In doing
so, it explores the relative logic and problem of the local governance of local heritage.