A An Introduction to Historic
Environment Records
Contributors: Kate Fernie, Paul Gilman, Chris Martin,
Martin Newman, Carol Swanson, David Thomas.
A.1 What
are SMRs and HERs?
SMRs began life in
response to the loss of the archaeological resource through urban and rural
development. From their original remit of recording archaeological sites, they
have been developed to encompass a wide range of information about the historic
environment which has been reflected in the change of name in England and Wales
from SMR to HER. Today they provide a unique information resource, forming the
basis for sustainable conservation and playing an important role in informing
public understanding and enjoyment of the local historic environment.
The historic environment includes all aspects of our
surroundings that have been built, formed or influenced by human activities
from earliest to most recent times. An Historic Environment Record stores and
provides access to systematically organised information about these surroundings
in a given area. It is maintained and updated for public benefit in accordance
with national and international standards and guidance. An HER makes information accessible to all in order
to:
·
advance knowledge and understanding of the historic environment;
·
inform its care and conservation;
·
inform public policies and decision-making on land-use
planning and management;
·
contribute to environmental improvement and economic
regeneration;
·
contribute to education and social inclusion;
·
encourage participation in the exploration, appreciation and
enjoyment of the historic environment.
The information
held in HER databases and collections thus provides a starting point for
management processes, conservation, fieldwork and research into the historic
environment and also informs local communities about their area. In turn, many of these activities generate
new information which feeds back to HER managers in the form of reports and
archives that are used to enhance the HER (Figure. 1).
Figure
1: The HER 'wheel' drives and is powered by an integrated approach to
conservation and understanding of the historic environment.
A.1.1 The information resource
HERs cover archaeological and
historical features and finds, the activities of people involved in
investigating the historic environment, sources of information about their
areas and the conservation management process.
However, in the same way that human activity varied from area to area in
the past so too does the information contained in HERs today. This is partly a reflection of variations in
past human activity and partly due to differences in the way in which
individual HERs have developed, which is expanded on later in this section.
The historic
landscape
In general, HER databases contain
information about all of the ancient and historic features and sites in both
countryside and town that make up the historic landscape. They range in date
from the earliest hominid settlement to the Cold War period. Many monuments and features survive in
visible form, and both enrich the public’s appreciation of the contemporary
landscape and contribute to tourism.
Other remains lie buried but can provide valuable enlightenment for this
and future generations. Some sites are
interpreted from place name or other evidence from maps and historic
documents. In addition to this, coastal
HERs include a wide range of sites and features reflecting the complex
interaction between man and the sea, from remains of vessels to quays and
harbours, inshore fisheries and shellfish cultivation as well as submerged
landscapes. Individual HERs vary in the
extent to which historic buildings, 20th-century structures, parks, gardens,
landscapes and finds are represented in their records, but the scope of each should
be clearly set out in a recording policy.
Fieldwork
HER databases contain information
about fieldwork carried out in their area, from the earliest antiquarian
investigations through to the present-day activities of archaeologists,
architectural recorders, surveyors, photographers and others. This information is used to set the known
sites and monuments in the area in the context of the pattern of investigation
and discovery. It can be used to
identify areas for new fieldwork - to fill
in apparent 'blanks' in the distribution of monuments - and to inform new
understanding or to suggest investigative techniques that may yield good
results. On completion of field
projects, contractors supply a summary for inclusion in the HER followed by a
report on the work. In Scotland, in
addition to submission of fieldwork reports to the SMR, summaries are provided
to the Council for Scottish Archaeology for inclusion in Discovery and
Excavation in Scotland, an annual publication. Fieldwork reports are
archived in the NMRS. Similarly in
Wales, in addition to their submission to the HER, it is usual for recent fieldwork
results to be summarised in the Council for British Archaeology, Wales annual
publication Archaeology in Wales. Since it is usually some time before the results are
published, HERs are an increasingly important source of information about these
projects In England, the development of the Online AccesS to the Index
of archaeological investigationS (OASIS)
project (See sections B.5.4, C.7.3) is enabling contractors and curators to
complete online recording forms and should facilitate supply of information
from field projects to HERs. OASIS has been introduced for use in England and
many HERs and contracting units are registered and using the system. The OASIS
pilot is being extended to Scotland in 2006-7. The
role of OASIS in Wales is as yet undecided.
Casework
A growing number of archaeological
curators are maintaining databases of their recommendations, the decisions made
by planning authorities and grant applications. In some cases, these databases are being linked to the main HER
database itself. This information is
used to track the progress of planning and other consultations within the wider
Archaeology or Historic Buildings Service.
Some HERs are beginning to record the processes involved in managing
field monuments in their databases in order to plan and monitor the impact of
changes in management regimes and repair work.
A.1.2 HER collections
The information compiled in HER
databases has been gathered from the wide range of sources that is summarised
below. HER databases can provide
catalogues of sources of information on the historic environment in their areas
and refer enquirers to both their own reference collections and to material
held in local museums, record offices and other repositories. Individual HERs
will record the collections used to compile their records in a recording policy
and create source/archive records to catalogue these collections within their
database.
Maps
Paper, film and digital copies of
Ordnance Survey (OS) maps, supplied under licence, are kept in conjunction with
the HER database. They are used to
record the locations of monuments and finds, or to show archaeological constraint
areas to highlight the potential implications of proposed development. Where paper maps are used, the map scales
are normally 1:10,000 for rural areas and 1:2,500 or 1:1,250 for urban
areas. Associated material includes map
overlays, for example cropmark plots, and copies of historic maps, such as
early editions of the OS or tithe maps.
These may be held either as paper copy or digital mapping. The use of
digital mapping and recording through GIS is increasing, and GIS standards are
one aspect which is addressed more fully in this revision of the manual (See
Section E).
Published materials
Library collections based on local
and national series of archaeological and historical society journals,
specialist publications, gazetteers, catalogues and other reference works will
normally be held within the HER office.
Unpublished
materials
These include fieldwork and other
reports, dissertations, statutory protection documentation (for example
scheduling notifications), notes and sometimes correspondence. Reports arise from archaeological work
undertaken as part of development control or from planned research objectives,
such as field survey or excavation of a particular class of monument. These reports may be held either as paper
copy or digitally (or both).
Photographic materials
Colour or black and white
photographs and slides, digital photographs and videos may be kept by the
HER. These derive from fieldwork, such
as excavation, survey or planned site visits; or from the recording of finds in
archaeological units, museums or specialist laboratories. This material will originate from both the
host organisation and also from other organisations and private individuals who
will retain title to its copyright.
HERs are also recommended to maintain a collection of colour slides of
illustrative materials for lecture and presentation purposes.
Aerial photography and air-photographic
transcriptions
Colour or black
and white, vertical and oblique aerial-photographic prints, negatives and
slides are all kept by HERs. Sources of
photography include the National Monuments Records for England (NMRE), Scotland
(NMRS), and Wales (NMRW), the Cambridge University Committee on Aerial
Photography (now Cambridge University Collection of Aerial Photographs (CUCAP),
the Ordnance Survey (OS), the Royal Air Force (RAF) and regionally based
individuals, including some HERs, taking aerial photographs of archaeological
sites. Associated materials include
flight traces and indexes.
Air-photographic transcriptions may also be held on film, paper and
digital map form. HERs hold copies of
prints whose copyright (and often the original negative or slide) is retained
by the photographer or commissioning organisation.
Digital archives
These include floppy disks, CDs and
DVDs, and other media holding digital data in formats which may include:
databases, text files, image files, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and
Computer Aided Design (CAD) files, geophysical survey files. HERs may acquire this material from
contractors following fieldwork and also create digital archive, through
programmes of database and GIS compilation, data capture and scanning of
slides, photographs or paper documents.
A.1.3 Informing services
Strategic and
local plans
HERs are used to help in the framing
of strategic and local policies for conserving the historic environment. They are consulted to help determine the
allocation of areas for development, although it is important to recognise that
an apparent lack of archaeological
features on an HER might reflect lack of fieldwork rather than absence of
sites.
Planning and
development control
HERs play a key role in providing
the information base for recommendations made by archaeological 'curators' in
response to planning applications and other proposals. The scale of HER input will vary with the
size of particular schemes: major infrastructure projects such as road and rail
schemes require considerable numbers of records to be trawled and
analysed. HERs are key sources of
information for desktop assessments and provide background information used by
archaeological contractors in the design of field projects. The results from
developer-instigated fieldwork projects are then fed back into the HER.
Managing monuments
in the landscape
This is one area in which the
information held in HER is becoming increasingly used proactively, for example
as it has been recently in England in the the selection of monuments for
consideration in English Heritage's Monuments Protection Programme (MPP). HERs
formed a major source of information for the Monuments at Risk Survey (MARS)
into the condition of field monuments in England (Darvill and Fulton 1998).
HERs also form the basis for the selection of sites where improved
management regimes or repair work would be beneficial. Whilst there has been no
programme comparable to MPP in Scotland, Historic Scotland has in the past
funded SMRs to compile Non-Statutory Registers of Monuments of Schedulable
Quality. Under the terms of the Scottish planning guidance these are to be regarded as equivalent to scheduled sites in
their treatment in development plans and the development control process.
Non-Statutory Registers have been completed for most of Scotland. In Wales, Cadw sponsor a number of annual pan-Wales thematic
surveys aimed at assessing the schedule of ancient monuments, making
recommendations for new scheduling and identifying other monument and landscape
management issues.
HERs in England have been a source of information for the
Countryside Stewardship Scheme, a grant scheme which was first pilotted in
1991. It aims included the conservation of archaeological sites and historic features, by adapting
land management practices. This scheme is now being replaced by a new agri-environment
sceme, Environmental Stewardship, with two tiers – the Entry
Level Scheme (ELS) and the Higher Level Scheme (HLS). HERs supply information
on the archaeology of the area, together with recommendations as to the optimum
method of land management. English Heritage is helping local authorities to
employ Countryside Archaeological Advisors, whose role is to extract
information from the HER and advise farmers and landowners on land management.
SMRs have been used in Scotland since 1997 as a source of archaeological information in connection with agri-environment grant application schemes, initially the Countryside Premium Scheme superseded in 2000 by the Rural Stewardship Scheme. Chargeable desk based archaeological audits are supplied by the Scottish SMRs for inclusion in farm conservation plans required as part of grant applications.
Since
1999 Tir Gofal, the all Wales agri-environment scheme, has promoted the
conservation and sympathetic management of individual monuments and the wider
historic landscape through the introduction of whole-farm management plans tied
to annual payments. The historic
environment of each farm entering the scheme is assessed, using information in
the HER and targeted field visits, and specific management recommendations
produced for indivudual monuments and the historic landscape in general. In addition to advice on the management of
individual features the scheme also funds landowners to undertake a range of
captial works to improve the condition of archaeological monuments and historic
buildings.
Education and
presentation of sites to the public
Alongside their
role in informing the planning and management process, HERs make a contribution
to education through the use of their information and resources by schools,
universities and the general public.
HERs provide information for use on display panels at monuments and also
for booklets, guides and trails aimed at a 'popular' audience.
A.2 How
and why did SMRs and HERs develop?
Systematic records of archaeological
and historic monuments began to be created in 1908 when the Royal Commissions (RCHME,
RCAHMS, RCAHMW) were set up and instructed to
make an inventory of the ancient and historical monuments of their respective
countries. For example, the warrant for the RCHME required the Commission 'to
make an inventory of the Ancient Monuments and Constructions connected with or
illustrative of the contemporary culture, civilisation and conditions of life
of the people in England covering the period from the
earliest time to the year 1700’. The remit also included identification
of ‘those which seem most worthy of preservation’ (RCHME 1992). In Scotland the cut-off date was initially set at 1707, the date of the union of the English and
Scottish parliaments.
In fact, the OS had been depicting
antiquities on maps since 1791. From
the 1920s, its Archaeology Division developed a card-index system and a network
of local correspondents provided this with information. Local records of field monuments and finds,
often based on information collected by these correspondents, began to be
developed by many museums.
During the 1960s there was a growing
awareness of the rate at which archaeological sites were being damaged or
destroyed and a need for the information amassed by the Royal Commissions and
the OS to be available to the local-authority planning svstem. The Committee of Enquiry into the
Arrangements for the Protection of Field Monuments (the 'Walsh' Committee,
which covered England, Wales and
Scotland) recommended the strengthening of existing legislation for the
protection of ancient monuments, and concluded that the local-authority system
could in future play a vital part in identifying and moderating threats to the
historic landscape. It recommended that
county planning authorities maintain a record of field monuments and that
county councils should consider appointing archaeological officers to provide
professional archaeological assistance (Walsh 1969). Following publication of the Walsh report, national networks of
archaeological officers and SMRs began to emerge in England and Wales in the
1970s. Oxfordshire is generally
credited with establishing the first SMR (Benson 1974). Similarly
in 1974-75, SMRs were established in the four newly formed Welsh Archaeological
Trusts thereby providing a national coverage across Wales.
In Scotland the Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland produced a document in 1974 entitled “Archaeology
and Local Government” in advance of the re-organisation of Scottish local
government in 1975. The first local authority appointment was in Stirling
County Council in 1974, before transfer to Central Regional Council in 1975,
and the first direct appointment to a Regional Council was at Grampian Regional
Council shortly thereafter.
In 1983 the OS's Archaeology
Division was transferred to the Royal Commissions. The OS card index became
part of the national archaeological records in the three national areas. The card index provided an essential source
of information, which was used to establish many local SMRs.
During the 1980s and 1990s, the
respective government departments, Royal Commissions and national agencies were
concerned with the structure, content and development of local SMRs. In
England, English Heritage (and earlier the Department of the Environment (DoE))
and the RCHME) supported enhancement projects and initial computerisation based
on the AN32 recording form for scheduled monuments and the 'Superfile' database
program. In 1989 the RCHME was given
the lead role in respect of SMRs (continued by EH following merger) and
subsequently supported fieldwork and recording projects in SMRs, and the
development of data and recording standards (such as RCHME 1993). During the 1990s the RCHME assisted in the
development of software for SMRs. This
culminated in the launch in 1998 of an SMR software package (Historic
Buildings, Sites and Monuments Records (HBSMR)) jointly developed with the
ALGAO and exeGesIS SDM Ltd.
In Scotland equivalent roles were
played by the Scottish Development Department’s Historic Buildings and
Monuments Division, later Historic Scotland, and the RCAHMS. Currently
Historic Scotland helps fund SMR development and the RCAHMS provides technical
assistance. The
Scottish bodies have not led software development for SMRs, but instead
concentrated their efforts on trying to extend the geographical coverage of the
Scottish SMRs by provision of pump-priming grants, firstly from the RCAHMS and
later Historic Scotland, with the RCAHMS providing basic data from the national
record. Now that the geographic coverage of SMRs in Scotland is
almost complete, the focus of attention of both the national bodies and the
local SMRs has switched to securing a national strategy for SMR development
through the auspices of the Scottish SMR Forum. In Scotland
SMRs have not yet achieved comprehensive recording of the archaeological
potential of the country. Fieldwork and research results in significant SMR
enhancement through new discoveries each year for large areas of Scotland,
particularly in the upland zone.
In Wales the four HERs are owned and managed by the Welsh
Archaeological Trusts (WATs) and thereby provide a uniform coverage across the
whole country. From 1980 the original paper records underwent computerization,
and considerable enhancement, although here the process was led by individual
Trusts, following the ‘Oxford model’ and using a variety of software and
hardware, with funding and support from various private initiatives and
government agencies (such as job creation and employment training
schemes). Latterly Cadw, and since 1989
RCAHMW under the oversight role for local HERs identified in its Royal Warrant,
have taken a more formal role in Welsh HERs, with initiatives now coming from
the Extended National Database for Wales partnership and the Strategic
Framework for Historic Environment Records in Wales working group.
The WATs are independent charitable trusts, part funded by
the Welsh Assembly Government to provide regional archaeological services. Some
additional financial support is provided by a number of the local authorities.
The Royal Commission for Ancient and Historic Monuments in Wales provides task
specific grant aid for maintaining and enhancing the HERs, while funding to
support public enquiries is provided by Cadw.
Following the publication of This Common Inheritance (DoE 1990b), government
planning guidance was issued in the
national areas. The DoE's Planning Policy
Guidance Note 16: Archaeology and Planning (PPG16) appeared in 1990 (DOE
1990a), for England, in 1991 (Welsh Office 1991) for Wales and for Scotland
National Planning Policy Guideline (NPPG) 5 (SDD 1994a) and Planning Advice
Note (PAN) 42 in 1994 (SDD 1994b).
These recognised the importance of archaeological sites and emphasised
both that archaeology is a material consideration in making planning decisions
and the key role of SMRs in providing information for decision-making. Following the publication of the planning
guidance, the 1990s saw a significant rise in the number of archaeological
projects carried out in response to development proposals. This increased both the amount of
information entering SMRs and the demand for that information from users. These changes sometimes gave rise to
backlogs as SMR staff fulfilled the dual roles of planning advisor and also SMR
manager. Another consequence of the
planning guidance was competitive tendering for archaeological projects and it
is now normal for a number of archaeological contractors (whether local
authority units or independent companies) to compete for work in any area. This has emphasised the importance of SMRs
as a central access point for information.
The introduction in England of Planning Policy Guidance Note 15: Planning and the Historic Environment (PPG 15)
in 1994 (DoE 1994a) extended the PPG 16 approach to the historic environment as
a whole. Welsh
Office Circular 61/96 Planning and the Historic Environment: Historic Buildings and
Conservation Areas, introduced
in 1996 in Wales as an equivalent to PPG15 and ammended under circular 1/98
(Welsh Office 1996c and 1998), takes a less holistic approach but covers
roughly the same themes and areas.
However, the early intergation of historic buildings into Welsh SMRs has
helped to promote the ‘PPG16 approach’ to planning matters in the historic
environment. The
generally equivalent document for Scotland, National Planning Policy Guideline
(NPPG) 18 (SDD 1999) Planning and the Historic Environment, is not as detailed,
but is accompanied by the Memorandum of
Guidance on Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas. In some authorities in
England, this prompted the development of integrated record systems containing
information including both historic buildings and archaeology. The move to
integrated databases has been slower in Scotland with only one or two SMRs to
date classifying themselves as Historic
Environment Records.
Until the mid-1990s in England most
SMRs were operated by county councils or, in the former metropolitan counties,
were jointly funded by district councils. In Scotland they were operated by the
Regional Councils, in one region with
joint funding from the district councils after 1994. This pattern changed after local government reorganisation
following Local Government Acts, of 1992 for England and 1994 for Scotland.
This resulted in England in the creation of a number of unitary authorities, mainly
in urban areas with high population densities, with the two-tier system of
county and district councils continuing elsewhere, and in Scotland in a system
of unitary authorities. Some of the new
unitary authorities have chosen to establish their own archaeological services
and SMRs, whilst others have contracted out archaeological services under a
joint arrangement, often with a neighbouring county council, under the terms of
service-level agreements. In Scotland there
are several joint arrangements and three unitary authorities buy in a service from a local
heritage or amenity trust.
The Welsh SMRs, being operated by the WATs and therefore
outside local authorities, have kept the same geographical boundaries since
their inception in the 1970s. Originally
concieved to cover the then newly created counties of 1974 the SMRs have
continued to provided services to sucessive county, district and, since 1996 unitary
authorites, under partnership arrangements and with each authority adopting the
relevant SMR by formal resolution. Dislocation due to local government
re-organisation has therefore been largely avoided in Wales.
In the 1990s a joint English
Heritage-RCHME initiative created a series of Urban Archaeological Databases (UADs) in England. Some are effectively
HERs for major historic towns, for example Chester; others are the enhancement of part of an existing HER such as
Northampton. There is no such equivalent in Scotland but since 1977 Historic Scotland has funded the production
of the Burgh Survey series which summarises the historical and archaeological
evidence for Scotland’s medieval burghs. These
are available to the Scottish SMRs but practice differs in respect of the
incorporation of relevant data into the SMRs. There has been no systematic
incorporation of the Burgh Survey information into the relevant SMR.
In 1999 the RCHME and English
Heritage were merged to create a single organisation, English Heritage,
concerned with the recording, protection and management of the historic
environment in England. As the
Government's statutory advisor on heritage conservation, archaeology and the
management of the historic environment, English Heritage remains concerned with
the effective application of HERs to heritage management at both local and national
levels and has continued the former RCHME’s lead role. Its NMR continues to work to support
inter-interoperability between local and national heritage information records.
This has not been paralleled by
similar mergers in Wales or Scotland. In Scotland, Historic Scotland and the
RCAHMS remain separate bodies. Historic Scotland provides some SMR support
grant and relies on the RCAHMS for technical advice in this respect. To
facilitate co-ordination of SMR development, a Scottish SMR Forum, comprising
Historic Scotland, the RCAHMS, the Scottish SMRs, and the Convention of
Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), was formed in 2000. The Forum has produced
an unpublished report of the Operational Roles of SMRs and published a
Co-Operation statement between Scottish SMRs and the RCAHMS (http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/RCAHMS_smr.doc). Within
the Scottish SMR Forum, the SMR Technical Working Group discusses information
related issues. At the end of 2004 the SMR Forum participants agreed in
principle to work together to incorporate online SMR data into Pastmap (http://www.pastmap.org) which currently
provides access via the internet to GIS data on scheduled ancient monuments,
listed buildings, the records of the NMRS (Canmore), and Historic Gardens and
Designed Landscapes provided by Scottish Natural Heritage. SMR information
began to be incorporated in Pastmap from late 2005 with more SMRs due to add
their data in due course.
In February 2000 English Heritage
was asked by the Government - jointly by the Department for Culture, Media and
Sport (DCMS) and the Department of the Environment, Transport and the
Regions (DETR) - to co-ordinate an
important and wide-ranging review of all policies relating to the historic
environment. This was published as Power
of Place: The future of the historic environment (English Heritage 2000). In
its response, The Historic Environment: A
Force for Our Future (DCMS 2001), the Government commited itself to holding
a consultation on the future of HERs. This was carried out in 2003 and included
a draft two-stage benchmarking standard Historic
Environment Records: Benchmarks for Good Practice (Chitty 2002). The
results were published together with the findings of the Heritage Protection
Review as Review of Heritage Protection:
The Way Forward (DCMS 2004). The results showed support for statutory
status and standards. In parallel English Heritage commissioned a report
assessing the resources required to bring all the HERs in England up to the 1st
stage benchmark (Baker, Chitty and Edwards 2004).
There has been no equivalent support for
statutory status for SMRs from the Scottish Executive, but the issue of
standards is being covered by the Scottish SMR Forum and a report, which will
set out digital standards for data submission to SMRs by archaeological
contractors, has been prepared with the assistance of grant aid from Historic
Scotland and is available via the internet (ASPIRE – http://www.aspire-resource.info ).
The
Welsh Assembly Government, through Cadw, has encouraged the Welsh
Archaeological Trusts to secure the HERs as publicly accessible records should
any Trust cease to operate. Alongside this Cadw, through the Strategic
Framework for Historic Environment Records in Wales, has recognised the HER Benchmarks for Good Practice (Chitty
2002) and funding for the HERs from the RCAHMW is currently being targeted to
enable Welsh HERs in the first instance to achieve the stage one benchmarks.
Despite this there has been no statement from the Welsh Assembly Government in
support of statutory status of HERs.
The development of SMRs and HERs is
more fully described elsewhere (for example in Baker 1999a, 1999b, Benson 1974,
Burrow 1984, Gilman 1996 and 2004, RCHME 1993. Hunter and Ralston 1993 and 2006,
and Robinson 2000).
A.3 Who
manages HERs?
Local authorities and most National
Park authorities maintain records of the archaeological, built and natural
environment. Specialist staff are employed to curate these records and also to
provide specialist advice for land-use planning and public information
services. Some major landowners, such
as the National Trust and the Ministry of Defence, also maintain similar
records, which are used to manage their landholdings for conservation, but not for development control purposes.
A.3.1 Local government
tiers
HERs and Listed Buildings Records
may be maintained by county councils, unitary authorities or district councils,
or by Trusts under service-level agreements on their behalf. Where based
within local authorities HERs are normally
managed by the highest tier in local government, the county or unitary
authority, although some districts have elected to manage their own HER. For economies of scale other authorities may
choose joint arrangements to provide the recommended services (by buying in service from a neighbouring authority or trust,
or combining resources to fund a joint service).
Some Scottish SMRs are maintained by organisations separate from local
authorities, for example in Orkney and Perth and Kinross . In Wales unitary authorities utilise the regional HERs of
the Welsh Archaeological Trusts, and in some instances operate their own record
systems using WAT HER data. Local authority historic environment services
obtained from the WATs are effectively supported directly with Welsh Assembly
Government funding.
A.3.2 Local government departments
Where they are held directly within
local authorities, HERs often form part of the
Planning, Environment and Economic Development Department or Directorate. Although the name of the grouping varies
from authority to authority, the HER normally sits alongside records for listed
buildings, ecology, rights of way and other aspects of countryside
management. There is a growing tendency
for these records, particularly in
England and Wales, to be combined to form integrated databases for the historic
environment; examples include the Essex Historic Environment Record and the
Staffordshire Environmental Planning Unit. Whilst this is also happening to
some extent in Scotland there are structural barriers in some areas to the
creation of HERs because of the nature of the arrangement for SMR and advice
provision.
In some authorities, rather than
being part of a planning department, the HER may form part of the Libraries,
Museums and Leisure Services Directorate.
This departmental location has enabled these HERs to develop their
public-information-service and education role more actively than those based
within planning services. However, they
may be less well placed to develop links with other environmental information
systems.