C O N T E X T 1 3 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 4 45 ANDREW MINTING A vision for historic environment records Quick and reliable map-based access to a comprehensive record of information relating to built heritage assets and their locality could become a reality within the next few years. Imagine how much easier our jobs would be, whether as conservation officers or heritage consultants, with quick and reliable map-based access to a comprehensive record of information relating to built heritage assets and their locality.We would not be the only beneficiaries, though: with public access to this information, as intended for historic environment records (HERs), the enhanced understanding by individuals and communities of their heritage would surely lead to its better protection from ill-considered change, and be a valuable tool for emerging neighbourhood plans. Until recently, we could only dream of such a resource, but changes in national policy and technological developments mean that, with our involvement, it could become a reality within the next few years.The past year’s articles in Context about projects funded by English Heritage’s HER21 programme have highlighted the ways in which the IHBC and various local authorities have sought to begin the realisation of such a record through HERs, and shared what those involved have learned from the process. The authors of practical projects in Worcester, Kent and Lincolnshire have enthusiastically described their achievements and how they developed closer working relationships with their HER colleagues. As a conservation officer, there is little more frustrating than trying to assess the significance of a building or place with insufficient information. The guidance suggests reference to the HER as a minimum, but reports will only be as useful and reliable as the information held in them. Persuading professional planning agents to provide heritage statements containing more than can be gleaned online, let alone to a standard equal to that required by archaeologists, is some way off, even when deemed proportionate to the proposals. In considering most applications, then, and in attempting to answer the myriad enquiries received, much more confident and timely advice may be provided if the officer has access to a map-based record, with layers of historic mapping and online links or references to sources that enable them to understand the site better and to flag up potential areas of interest or concern. One of the essential elements of HERs is that they provide a map-based search option accessible to the public, so even where local planning authority staff may not have direct access to GIS or HER software, the online HERwill still be available. Security arrangements may be made to restrict access to some data on the website, such as for internal photographs as described by Sarah Harrison inContext 131 (September 2013), or for sensitive sites. Carl Jukes proposed in Context 133 (March 2014) that the benefit of having at least some of the HER publicly available (even when provided as a chargeable report) is likely to result in an improvement in the quality of applications, and possibly a reduction in their number, as agents and applicants may come to appreciate the sensitivities of a site. The transformation of site and monuments records (SMRs) into HERs since the introduction of PPS5, most significantly their adaptation to facilitate inclusion of the historic built environment, has most commonly been in the hands of dedicated HER officers reporting to a county archaeologist.The generation and secure archival of documentary records has always been at the heart of archaeology, so SMRs were designed as a tool by, and principally for, archaeologists. A building, while it exists, remains the primary record, and everybody, not just professionals, can interpret it to some degree. One can not say the same for archaeological sites, so this headstart is entirely understandable. Recording and managing an archive are rarely seen as elements of the conservation officer’s role within the planning department, but if HERs are to develop into the resource we need we must surely play a role in determining how that should be achieved. The experience of SMR development and management by archaeologists is essential to the HER evolution, but should we assume that they know what we want and howwe want to use it? Certainly the experiences of Kent HER highlight a mutual lack of understanding, and the article in Context 132 (November 2013) outlines their successful application of formalised protocols in order to acquire and manage information in ways considered useful to both HER and conservation officers. Nationally, county archaeologists are guided by the ALGAO national HER committee in the management and development of their record. It is perhaps surprising, given the strong incentive to improve, or in some cases create, their record of buildings, that this committee has not widened its membership to include IHBC Part of a screenshot illustrating the sequence for an investigation of some of the HER data available for 21 St Mary’s Street, Stamford.The base map is OS copyright.
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