ENG-1999 — Page 445

RECREATION, SPORTS AND THE ARTS

Heritage Trust provides support and funding for a series of worthwhile heritage projects.

Antiquities Advisory Board and Antiquities and Monuments Office

The Antiquities Advisory Board has 19 appointed members. They include archaeologists, architects, historians, lawyers, a planner and a teacher. It advises the Government on sites and structures that merit protection through declaration as monuments. In 1999, two historical buildings Fan Sin Kung in Tai Po and Cheung Ancestral Hall in Yuen Long were declared monuments.

Fan Sin Kung (Fan Sin Temple) in Wun Yiu, Tai Po, was probably built by the Ma clan about 200 years ago to worship the three brothers surnamed Fan who were revered collectively as Fan Tai Sin Sze, the patron saint of potters. Wun Yiu consists of Sheung Wun Yiu and Ha Wun Yiu which were established in the early 16th century and 19th century respectively to produce traditional blue-and-white ceramic. ware for daily use. As most of the villagers in the old days worked in the pottery industry, the worship of the Fan Tai Sin Sze in the temple was very popular in the past. The temple is a simple but functional rammed earth two-hall structure. It was gazetted as a monument on December 30.

The Cheung Ancestral Hall in Shan Ha Tsuen, Yuen Long, was built in 1815 by the Cheung clan, whose ancestors migrated from Dongguan in Guangdong Province to Xian County during the Ming Dynasty and later moved to Shan Ha Tsuen during the Shunzhi reign (1644-1661) of the Qing Dynasty. The building is a two-hall green brick structure with an open courtyard in between and covered aisles on both sides. The ancestral hall has been used as a centre for communal gatherings and a place for ancestral worship, although it was also used as the premises for a primary school from the 1930s to 1950s. The ancestral hall was declared a monument on December 30.

During 1999, restoration and repairs were undertaken at various historical buildings including the Cheung Ancestral Hall, the former Kowloon British School, King Law Ka Suk (King Law Study Hall), the Old Pathological Institute, Tsui Shing Lau Pagoda, Yi Tai Study Hall, Tang Kwong U Ancestral Hall and Cheung Chun Yuen.

Cartographic survey and measured drawing projects in respect of King Law Ka Shuk and Fan Sin Kung in Tai Po, Lik Wing Tong Study Hall in Kam Tin, Tin Hau Temple in Aberdeen and Hung Shing Temple in Kau Sai Chau, Sai Kung were carried out with the assistance of the Guangdong Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and consultant service. The drawings and findings of the survey provided useful information to facilitate the restoration and reconstruction of these historical buildings.

The regional historical building and structure survey was completed. About 7 000 pre-1950 buildings and structures of historical interest were recorded. The data collected are being compiled and computerised to facilitate future research.

Following the enforcement of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Ordinance on April 1, 1998, the AMO continued to be heavily involved in heritage impact assessments associated with EIA studies. Related archaeological investigations were undertaken at Kau Hui and Ha Pak Nai in Yuen Long and Yick Yuen in Tuen Mun as well as the project areas of the following development projects:

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