Warwickshire Historic Environment Record (HER)
The Warwickshire HER holds a wide range of sources and information on archaeological sites, finds and buildings of historic interest, as well as fieldwork that has taken place within the County. To meet expectations of HER users and to increase awareness of the HER amongst less well-established audiences, staff at the HER seek to maintain, enhance and promote the information and resources held in the Record.
Work to improve the quality and depth of information held in the Warwickshire HER is an ongoing process. As an illustration of this process, during 2007 staff added about 200 monuments and 550 finds from more than 500 new sources to the HER database. A further 100 archaeological events and activities were also added to the Record and, as part of our validation programme, around 15,000 records were checked and modified. Targeted enhancement of the content of the HER is equally important and this is accomplished through the implementation of specific projects such as the Historic Landscape Characterisation Project (HLC), the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) Archaeological Resource Assessment and the National Mapping Programme (NMP), all of which took place during 2007.
A key priority of the HER continues to be to raise the profile of, and improve access to, the information held at the HER and in 2007 staff from the HER organised and delivered over 30 presentations, workshops and events to community groups and societies. In addition, the HER website (http://timetrail.warwickshire.gov.uk/) which was developed in 2001/2 with Heritage Lottery Funding is continually updated to allow even greater access to local heritage information and events. New Information on over 100 known archaeological sites and finds have been added to the online version of the HER database allowing the user to search through over 11,000 records. Recent exhibitions including The Archaeology of Bidford on Avon and Mancetter Quarry are also available on-line as well a series of publications, school packs and project reports.
