The Warwickshire HER provides sources and information relating to archaeological sites, find spots, historic buildings and fieldwork conducted within the county. Museum staff and dedicated volunteers continuously add to, maintain and develop this valuable resource.
In the past year, 72 monuments, 16 finds and 256 archaeological events were added to the database, with 504 new sources. In addition, a total of 4239 records were checked and modified, in order to maintain data validity. Data from specific projects (such as the Historic Landscape Characterisation Project (HLC) and Historic Farmsteads Characterisation Project (HFC)), has also been added (totalling more than 20,000 records), enhancing and broadening the scope of the HER. The forthcoming Warwickshire Historic Towns Project will yield much data to be added in the future.
The Selected Heritage Inventory for Natural England (SHINE) comprises a dataset of historic environment features that could benefit from sustainable management by Entry Level Environmental Stewardship Scheme (ELS) participants (http://www.myshinedata.org.uk). Warwickshire HER has actively taken part since the inception of this project and is one of the most consistent participants in regularly uploading data to the website. A total of 398 SHINE entries have been added to the Record this year.
HER records are accessible to the public via the periodically updated Timetrail website (http://timetrail.warwickshire.gov.uk), with 266,113 page views between April 2009 and March 2010. Also published on the website are several recent online exhibitions, including The Archaeology of Napton Hill and Archaeologists and the Temple of Coleshill.
Warwickshire HER has begun to actively participate in the online Heritage Gateway Project - a collaboration between English Heritage, the Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers (ALGAO) and the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC), aiming to provide public access to local and national historic environment records (www.heritagegateway.org.uk). Searches conducted for sites within Warwickshire link back to records held on the Timetrail website.
To further raise awareness and improve access to this service, eleven talks, events and workshops were delivered and implemented by AIA staff to community groups and societies. Last year saw a total of 317 enquiries made to the HER, for commercial, academic and research purposes, including 55 Farm Environment Plan Consultations.
