In 2023, the Government’s Levelling Up and Regeneration Act established Historic Environment Records (HERs) as a statutory requirement for Local Authorities, meaning that every Local Authority must maintain a HER as a primary source of information for planning, development-control work, and land management. However, HERs are an important starting point for anyone interested in the archaeology, built heritage, and history of an area. Wiltshire and Swindon have been fortunate to have had a local authority managed HER for many years.

An inventory of archaeological and historic monuments was first created by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) in 1908. A card index system was originally complied from the mapping of antiquities on OS maps by OGS Crawford, for example.

County Council Sites & Monument Records (SMRs) began in the 1960s as a series of record cards:

then as a paper-based database, gradually computerised from the 1980s funded by Dept of Environment/English Heritage – we found several massive bound volumes of dot-matrix printed records during a recent office move.

This digital system evolved to utilise Microsoft Office and AutoCAD in the early 2000s and now has an integrated GIS electronic map (Global Information System).

The ‘Monument’ records in our HER system are available to search on our Wiltshire and Swindon HER website:

https://services.wiltshire.gov.uk/HistoryEnvRecord/Home/Index

To celebrate Government’s recognition of the importance of HERs and showcase the whole range of information that HERs hold across the England, Historic England have produced two short films:

https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/technical-advice/information-management/hers/#films

 “What are Historic Environment Records?”

https://vimeo.com/1174819186?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci

Colleagues from other authorities feature in the second film – Why Historic Environment Records Matter – demonstrating the extensive capabilities and the range of HERs across the country, and including some fantastic shots of historic landscapes, structures and buildings! These passionate HER champions emphasise the importance and wide use of HERs in environmental, climate change and community projects, as well as for town planning and housing developments.

 “Why Historic Environment Records Matter”

https://vimeo.com/1174722048?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci

Not all HERs have the functionality or range of use demonstrated in the films, but we’re all working hard to record and improve on what we already know about our local historic environment to make our HERs better, within the budget constraints of local authorities.

Of course, we want you to explore our Wiltshire and Swindon HER but if you’d like to look further afield, Historic England also host Heritage Gateway, which Wiltshire & Swindon joined in 2022.

https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/gateway/default.aspx

Heritage Gateway allows you to search over 60 resources, including other local authority, Historic England and National Trust records. It’s looking rather dated now, but Historic England are in the process of developing a new look site, which is due to launch later this year. We’ll let you know when it’s ready….

In the meantime, happy HER hunting!

Carol Lewis, Historic Environment Record Data Manager