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Dorset Council maintains the HER for the geographic county of Dorset which is composed of the two unitary authorities Dorset Council and Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council, an area of 265,275 hectares or approximately 2,653 square kilometres. Maritime archaeology is also recorded.
The Dorset HER database contains more than 44,000 monument records with information about remains from the prehistoric period to the present day. Information on nationally-designated (scheduled monuments, listed buildings, protected wrecks, and registered parks and gardens), locally-designated, and undesignated heritage assets is recorded. As well as information on archaeological finds and features and historic buildings (all known as ‘Monuments’), episodes of fieldwork and recording such as excavation and historic building survey (known as ‘Events’), and the various sources from which information about them has been drawn (known as ‘Sources’) are recorded in the HER.
Year | Monument | Event | Source |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | 32,478 | 6,041 | 7,717 |
2014 | 34,934 | 6,052 | 8,470 |
2015 | 39,713 | 6,128 | 8,649 |
2016 | 41,471 | 6,391 | 9,475 |
2017 | 42,078 | 6,698 | 10,172 |
2018 | 44,266 | 6,854 | 10,898 |
2019 | 44,317 | 6,918 | 11,016 |
The database is linked to a Geographic Information System (GIS) with geographical depictions of all sites on the database, ranging from simple point locations to complex plots for extensive size such as ancient field systems, and supplemented by materials such as reports on work that has taken place as part of the planning process (known as ‘grey literature’) and photographs. These materials are in a mixture of digital and hard copy formats.
As well as local and national government and other agencies such as the Environment Agency and Forestry Commission, the HER provides information and advice to:
Significant enhancement of the HER has been achieved through several projects initiated following earlier HER audits. Funded largely by Historic England (with contributions in kind from Dorset County Council and financial contributions from the Dorset AONB (Historic Landscape Characterisation and the South Dorset Ridgeway AIM Project) these projects include:
In addition, there have been several Aerial Investigation and Mapping (AIM, previously known as the National Mapping Programme or NMP) projects in Dorset. Funded largely by Historic England, these projects map archaeological features from aerial photographs and digital imagery such as LiDAR and have been carried out by a specialist team based at Cornwall Council working remotely in the HER database and include:
Note: The project aimed to inform future coastal and shoreline management by providing an overview of coastal change from the Palaeolithic onwards, and assessing the degree and nature of threat to coastal historic assets and the potential and vulnerability of the resource. Carried out by the Cornwall Archaeological Unit and Bournemouth University.
In 2013 the HER undertook a pilot project which explored approaches to the recruitment and use of volunteers to carry out Buildings at Risk survey of Grade II listed buildings in Dorset. The project sought to create and test a way of using volunteers to gather consistent high-quality information that was repeatable and sustainable in the context of limited officer time and resources. Significant insight was gained, and an approach developed that combined a good volunteer experience with the most productive use of officer time, in a way that could be maintained in the long term and extended to other types of survey.
The HER continues to create records in the Selected Heritage Inventory for Natural England (SHINE)funded by Natural England, which feeds into land management schemes such as Countryside Stewardship.
In 2019-20 the HER shared an internship partly funded by the Headley Trust with the Dorset Portable Antiquities Scheme. The intern analysed data reported to the HER by metal detectorists before the advent of PAS and data already imported into the HER from the PAS database, to identify common types of error and feed into future data cleaning and import processes.
The HER is currently participating in the NRHE to HERs Project by which data is being devolved from the National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE) to local Historic Environment Records. This is being done with a grant from Historic England.
The audit of the HER carried out in 2019 showed performance against national benchmarks in general to be good. Areas where action is required were identified against HER Audit Service Outcomes which are:
Service area | Service outcomes |
---|---|
Service Area A Content and coverage | Service outcome A1: The HER is maintained as a dynamic and constantly evolving resources. Service outcome A2: The HER contains and signposts information on a full range of heritage assets of a defined geographical area within the local planning authority it serves. |
Service Area B Data standards and security | Service outcome B1: The HER complies with relevant UK national data standards and legislation. Service outcome B2: The HER is safeguarded by adequate data back-up and security procedures. |
Service Area C Access and engagement | Service outcome C1: The HER readily makes its information available to all. Service outcome C2: The HER actively works to engage audiences. |
Service Area D Infrastructure and service delivery | Service outcome D1: The HER is actively managed enabling it to deliver an effective service. Service outcome D2: The HER is appropriately resourced |
Outcome | Rating |
---|---|
A1 | Little action is required |
A2 | One or more actions required in this area |
B1 | Little action is required |
B2 | Little action is required |
C1 | Little action is required |
C2 | Little action is required |
D1 | One or more actions required in this area |
D2 | Little action is required |
The Historic Environment Record is based at County Hall in Dorchester, and in normal circumstances open to the public during office hours by appointment. Occasionally people use the HER on Saturday mornings, by arrangement. The HER shares an office with the local Portable Antiquities Scheme. Office opening hours and arrangements for consulting the Historic Environment Record are advertised via the Dorset Council website.
Guidance for HER users covers matters such as the purpose for which the HER is maintained, access and charging, response times and format, data protection and privacy, and information on how users can provide feedback or make a complaint.
Most HER enquiries are dealt with by email. Enquirers are encouraged to submit enquiries via an on-line enquiry form, for ease and speed of processing.
Year | Commercial | Academic | CSS | Internal/council | Other non-commercial | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | 89 | 56 | 50 | 58 | 76 | 329 |
2014 | 140 | 44 | 20 | 45 | 80 | 329 |
2015 | 102 | 30 | 58 | 47 | 105 | 342 |
2016 | 76 | 26 | 144 | 40 | 69 | 355 |
2017 | 92 | 39 | 265 | 39 | 58 | 493 |
2018 | 104 | 15 | 306 | 23 | 47 | 495 |
2019 | 80 | 20 | 114 | 18 | 70 | 302 |
Note about this table: categories are as used by Historic England as part of their annual survey of HERs. The CSS (Countryside Stewardship Scheme) figure includes consultations on forestry, the Hedgerow Regulations, and Environmental Impact Assessments relating to agricultural use, as well as the Environmental Land Management Scheme current at the time.
Summaries of selected HER monument records are made available online through the Heritage Gateway. They are updated at irregular intervals and link to mapping on the Dorset Explorer website. Both with the caveat that the data is not suitable for in-depth research, planning or land management purposes.
Visitors to the office have access to reference collections and photocopying facilities and can use a computer terminal. There is disabled access and the HER offices have been examined to ensure that they satisfy the terms of the Equality Act (2010).
All enquirers are asked to complete a user satisfaction survey via the website or using a paper form that can be provided on request. Few complete the form; those that do give very positive comments.
People who give information to the HER submit reports in a variety of ways, including the proverbial note on the back of an envelope. Understanding submissions and making them compatible with the HER database falls to officers and volunteers, and can be time consuming.
A small team of volunteers work on the HER database, usually for half a day a week each. Other volunteers drop in and out as their commitments allow, and in response to different recording projects. No more than two volunteers can work in the office at any time, and provision for field survey and remote data entry is limited by officers’ other commitments and need for technical support. Technically adept volunteers and the parish liaison officers (HELO) exhibit a keen interest in the database and have the potential to provide considerable assistance with data entry and recording in the field or through a website.
The Dorset HER Forum is used to involve current and potential users and contributors in the development of the HER. People within the Forum are consulted at open meetings, most recently in 2019, and by email. The Forum brings wider knowledge and expertise from local communities and government, and the business, education and cultural sectors to the development of the HER and informs the ways we all use and benefit from the information the HER contains.
The HER and its services are actively publicised through via the corporate website, posters and a leaflet. The HET organises or participates in numerous outreach activities, including:
The HER also participates in events organised by others, as invited, for example:
Talks are given to local groups and societies.
The Dorset Council Metal Detecting Liaison Scheme was established in 1996 and (now alongside the Portable Antiquities Scheme) continues to provide a means of increasing awareness of the HER, as well as promoting responsible metal detecting and developing best practice for metal detecting and other forms of amateur archaeological fieldwork in the county.
Regular half-day visits (usually with Finds Liaison Officer) are made to local museums or libraries to give students and members of the public an opportunity for face-to-face discussions about finds, HER enquiries, research projects.
4 This forward plan 2021-2025