Historic Environment Record

If you are interested in researching your local area, finding out more about a particular historical period, or just interested in archaeology generally, a good place to start is the County Historic Environment Record.

The Historic Environment Record (HER) is the primary database for providing planning advice and is also an essential tool for anyone wishing to carry out archaeological research in the county,  The latter might range from a schools project in a local parish to a PhD thesis.

The  Record is the most comprehensive collection of information on the historic environment in the County. The information is computerised and linked to a Geographical Information System (computer mapping) so that it is easy to search for specific or linked sites. Over 17,000 historic assets are recorded on the system.
If you want to find out about all the recorded archaeological or historic sites in your parish we can provide you with a print out, together with a map or maps at different scales.
The Record includes overlays of historic maps, such as the late 19th century 1st edition of the Ordnance Survey map.
The Record includes a growing body of information on historic buildings.
We can provide printouts and maps by post but we always encourage people to come and visit the Archaeology Service in person.  Here we have more detailed information on the sites, including a large collection of  aerial photographs. We also hold copies of many historic maps and indices to the location of many others.
The Service has a good archaeological reference library with general and specialist books on British archaeology, the main period journals and a local section. The library also includes the "parish boxes" for every parish in the County. These hold all the modern, unpublished, reports on fieldwork in the parish as well as general articles and local histories.
Visitors can draw on the expertise of the members of staff of the Historic Environment and Archaeological Service. Many of the archaeologists here have worked in the County for years and are very knowledgeable about particular places or are specialists in particular periods. Click here
The County Historic Environment Record, is a light and pleasant place to work and the staff of the Information and Records Section are keen to help independent researchers Click here
The Service also provides an identification service to members of the public for finds ('portable antiquities') in order to help maintain the accuracy of the HER.   We also have a number of interested members of the public who undertake  projects to enhance particular parts of the HER. Projects  include:

	The Defence of Worcestershire Project Locating and recording defences from both world wars
	Tithe and Inclosure Map Project Transcribing and digitising the tithe maps for the county  (Now developed as a major partnership project by the Service and Record Office)

Worcestershire County Council reserve the right to refuse access to information held on the Historic Environment Record if there is likely to be a threat to the security and preservation of the archaeological resource.

You can make an appointment to visit us by contacting Victoria Bryant or Deborah Overton on 01905 855494 or e-mail to  Information and Records Officer