SpatialData.gov.scot
Historic Environment Records - Scotland
HERs (Historic Environment Records) developed out of SMRs (Sites and Monuments Records). SMRs were established from the 1960s onwards in response to the loss of the archaeological resource through urban and rural development. The expansion of SMR/HERs to almost full UK-wide cover by 2004 was driven largely by their role in land-use planning, which expanded after formal government guidance was issued in the early 1990s: in Scotland this comprised 'National Planning Policy Guideline 5 (NPPG 5)' and 'Planning Advice Note (PAN) 42 Archaeology - the Planning Process and Scheduled Monument Procedures' (these were first issued in 1994 and have been regularly reviewed and updated ever since). The protection and enhancement of the historic environment is a key policy of NPF4 (Policy 7), which states that development proposals should be informed by reference to HERs.
From their original remit of recording archaeological sites, HERs have been developed to encompass a wide range of information about the historic environment which has been reflected in their change of name from SMR. Today they provide a unique information resource, forming the basis for sustainable conservation and playing an important role in informing public understanding and enjoyment of the local historic environment. The historic environment includes all aspects of our surroundings that have been built, formed, or influenced by human activities from earliest to most recent times. The HER stores, and provides access to, systematically organised information about these surroundings in a given area. It is maintained and updated for public benefit in accordance with national and international standards and guidance.
An HER makes information accessible to all in order to:
• advance knowledge and understanding of the historic environment.
• inform its care and conservation.
• inform public policies and decision-making on land use planning and management.
• contribute to environmental improvement and economic regeneration.
• contribute to education and social inclusion, and
• encourage participation in the exploration, appreciation, and enjoyment of the historic environment.
Most Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) maintain records of the historic (archaeological, built, and occasionally natural) environment. Some LPAs group together to collate their standardised records. Specialist staff and archaeological services (e.g., the West of Scotland Archaeology Service) curate these records and also to provide specialist advice for land-use planning and public information services.
A few LPAs do not collate or curate an HER for their areas. Historic environment data hosted on the Spatial Hub for these LPA areas (listed below) is taken from the Canmore database, maintained by Historic Environment Scotland (HES).
It is important to note that Canmore data is not equivalent to HER data. HER data are spatially defined and dynamically curated to be relevant to land use management and historic change over time, while Canmore at its core is a spatial index to the archive holdings of HES in various formats. Therefore, Canmore-derived data should not be used for land management or planning purposes due to its fundamental difference from HER data.
This dataset has two distinct data layers:
• Historic Environment Sites (i.e., known locations and extents of archaeological monuments, features, historic buildings, and findspots, as well as Areas of Archaeological Interest; places known, or likely, to be particularly rich in archaeological features)
• Historic Environment Events (i.e., archaeological investigations and excavations, historic building surveys, environmental impact assessments etc.)
We strongly recommend that, when using the WFS for this dataset, because of its size you should use it with a filter.
LPAs using Canmore data:
• City of Edinburgh
• Dundee
• Falkirk
• Fife
• Inverclyde
• North Lanarkshire
• Orkney Islands
Default
Identification info
- Alternative title
-
her
- Metadata Language
- English
- Character set
- UTF8
- Dataset Reference Date (Revision)
- 2024-10-31
- Identifier
- www.spatialhub.scot / sh_her
- Maintenance and update frequency
- Quarterly
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GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0
-
-
Protected sites
-
Area management/restriction/regulation zones and reporting units
-
Buildings
-
- Keywords
-
-
Historic Environment
-
Archaeology
-
- Limitations on Public Access
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
-
Limitations on public access
- Use constraints
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
-
Use of the data is available to any organisation that is a member of the PSGA (Public Sector Geospatial Agreement) or any UK academic institution via Edina's subscription Digimap service. It is not currently commercially available.
- Spatial representation type
- Vector
- Topic category
-
- Environment
))
Temporal reference
Temporal extent
Temporal extent
Distribution Information
Data format
- Data format
-
Name Version OGC:WMC
1.3.0
Transfer options
- Resource Locator
-
Protocol Resource Locator Name WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link
https://data.spatialhub.scot/dataset/historic_environment_records-is Historic Environment Records - Scotland
WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link
https://www.spatialdata.gov.scot:443/geonetwork/srv/api/records/cff49e3d-357f-430a-bb3d-c9c0bb9e2fb7/formatters/xml EDINA Digimap Service
WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link
https://canmore.org.uk/content/data-downloads Canmore Data Downloads
WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link
https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/spatialdownloads Historic Environment Scotland Designations Data
Data quality info
- Quality Scope
- Dataset
- Statement
-
This dataset was amalgamated, optimised and published by the Spatial hub.
The following quality assurance checks and corrections are carried out on the data:
- Polygons are not dissolved/ aggregated by key name and local authority.
- No minimum area check is made (as some sites are very small or indicative)
- Checks for invalid geometry types
- The maximum angle for any spikes is 3 degrees
- Any duplicate geometry is removed from the data
- Duplicate key names for polygons are not removed
- Polygons with no key names are not removed
- Checks for basic geometry i.e. self-intersection
Please contact spatialhub@improvementservice.org.uk for more details. spatialhub@improvementservice.org Please contact spatialhub@improvementservice.org.uk for more details.
Metadata
- File identifier
- cff49e3d-357f-430a-bb3d-c9c0bb9e2fb7 XML
- Metadata Language
- English
- Resource type
- Dataset
- Metadata Date
- 2024-09-16T16:22:43
- Metadata standard name
-
UK GEMINI
- Metadata standard version
-
2.3
Point of contact
- Organisation name
-
The Improvement Service
- Position name
-
Spatial Hub Custodian
- Voice
-
01506 282012
- City
-
Livingston
- Administrative area
-
West Lothian
- Postal code
-
EH54 6AX
- Country
-
United Kingdom
- Electronic mail address
-
spatialhub@improvementservice.org spatialhub@improvementservice.org.uk
- Role
- Point of contact