Updated: 21 June, 2005
© RESCUE

Response to the Historic Environment Records consultation paper by RESCUE:
The British Archaeological Trust

Introduction

RESCUE welcomes the opportunity to respond to the consultation paper on the future of Historic Environment Records and responses to the specific questions asked are given below.

In our response to the publication of Power of Place we emphasised the importance of a:

'commitment (with legislation as required) to the full and proper funding of research archives (including Sites and Monuments Records . and city and county archives) and their maintenance and enhancement at the local and regional level' (Rescue News No. 85, Autumn 2001)

It is in line with this statement and the remainder of the RESCUE response to Power of Place that the answers to the specific questions posed in the consultation paper are offered. RESCUE believes that it is important to note that, at present, few Sites and Monuments Records conform to the description of Historic Environment Records in that they lack major bodies of detailed data concerning a number of the elements which make up the historic environment (including comprehensive standing building data, extensive landscape features, historic landscape characterisation data, and recified and mapped aerial photographs). The necessary upgrading of the existing data to include this is seen as a pre-requisite for the establishment of true Historic Environment Records. RESCUE would also wish to highlight the close links between Historic Environment Records and the archives generated by fieldwork (excavation, field survey and collection and amateur collecting) which are generally deposited in local museums. The principle of preservation by record means that these artefactual and ecofactual archives form a critical component of our record of the Historic Environment and deserve consideration alongside the documentary material which forms the greater part of Sites and Monument Records.

The responses to the specific questions have been limited to those which are pertinent to an organisation which draws its support from a wide range of people concerned with the historic environment within both the professional and voluntary/amateur fields. Those questions which are best answered by organisations with a narrower remit and membership have been indicated as such.

Responses to the questions for consultation

Are you aware of the national network of Historic Environment Records?

RESCUE members include those responsible for the creation and maintenance of Historic Environment Records as well as those who use them both professionally and in the course of an amateur/voluntary engagement with the historic environment. The responses below reflect this wide range of interests and concerns.

If you have used them now or in the past, why do you use Historic Environment Records?

RESCUE membership is too diverse for this question to be addressed

How do you use them - for example, do you visit the Historic Environment Record office or do you access the Historic Environment Record via the Internet?

RESCUE membership is too diverse for this question to be addressed

If you do not use them yourself, what is your interest in Historic Environment Records?

RESCUE sees Historic Environment Records as a central element in the infrastructure that supports the curation of the historic environment and a primary means of access to information regarding the Historic Environment. No other institution holds comparable bodies of data and Historic Environment Records are in constant use by a wide variety of those with an interest in the Historic Environment.

In what ways have you found the content currently available in Historic Environment Records to be useful?

RESCUE membership is too diverse for this question to be addressed effectively

If you think the content of Historic Environment Records could be improved in any way, please could you suggest how?

RESCUE sees a need for greater investment in fundamental research designed

• to complete partial or incomplete records;

• to review local research and survey work undertaken in the past which now requires updating;

• to review and correct inaccurate or partial information which currently forms part of many records;

• to permit the ongoing updating and maintenance of Historic Environment Records.

To build on this, greater investment in infrastructure and staffing is required which is designed

• to increase staffing levels to facilitate access and assistance to users whether on-line or using the records at first hand;

• to provide dedicated space and facilities to allow more people to consult records at any given time;

• to permit the ongoing updating and maintenance of Historic Environment Records;

• to forge closer links with local and county-based documentary archives and libraries which complement the contents of individual Historic Environment Records;

• to forge closer links with local and regional museums who hold the artefactual and ecofactual archives generated by fieldwork and by the Portable Antiquities Scheme;

• to provide wider access via the internet.

What developments need to take place to Historic Environment Records to enable them to contribute most effectively to integrated land management?

Greater investment in fundamental research designed to enhance and expand existing records with the prompt and full integration of the results of developer-funded archaeological excavation and survey and closer liaison with documentary archives and libraries.

How do you currently access the information in Historic Environment Records?

Facilities for access vary across the country with some Records accessible via the internet while others (the majority) require a visit to the offices where the Historic Environment Record is located.

How would you like this information to be delivered, and where?

Internet access would be desirable, but arrangements for this are likely to be extremely expensive and to take a considerable time to implement fully. In the absence of any serious likelihood of such access being available in the near future, RESCUE sees the maintenance of current local authority based access being highly desirable.

How could the service be improved?

A key preliminary step to improving the service provided by Historic Environment Records will be to place them on a statutory footing so that they are no longer faced with threats to their size, status and existence on an annual basis. In addition to this RESCUE would like to see greater investment in fundamental research designed to fulfil the following objectives:

• to complete partial or incomplete records;

• to review local research and survey work undertaken in the past which now requires updating;

• to review and correct inaccurate or partial information which currently forms part of many individual records

• To produce county and regional based syntheses of information held by Historic Environment Records and to make these widely accessible

• To allow the ongoing maintenance and upgrading of Records in response to new data generated by public participation and through schemes including the portable Antiquities Scheme

RESCUE would also advocate greater investment in infrastructure and staffing designed

• to provide wider access via the internet

• to increase staffing levels to facilitate access and assistance

• to provide dedicated space to allow more people to consult records at any given time

• to forge closer links with local and county-based documentary archives and libraries which complement the contents of Historic Environment Records

• To increase the breadth and scope of staff training and to forge closer links with research organisations and with specialist organisations and study groups (both local and national) who have much to contribute to the enhancement of Historic Environment Records

How could Historic Environment Record information best be developed to be most useful in education at all levels?

Historic Environment Records are, together with county and district archives, a key part of the primary records pertaining to the historic environment of the country. They certainly have a potential role in education at various levels, but their creation and current form was not a function of educational requirements and this has implications for their role in education. This having been said, their potential educational role is as various as education itself. RESCUE would suggest that there are two broad categories of educational access which should be facilitated; teaching and research.

Teaching is here defined as the use of information derived from the Historic Environment Records to educate and inform those who are seeking to appreciate and learn about the current extent of knowledge pertaining to the historic environment (which encompasses people of all ages and backgrounds in a variety of educational contexts).

Research is defined as the use of records by those who are seeking to use Historic Environment Records as a source of data for the development of new interpretations of the existing data together with the generation of new data (from survey, excavation, building recording, documentary research etc) which will in itself contribute to a quantitative and qualitative increase and enhancement of the data held in Historic Environment Records. Research is carried out by university students (generally at the post-graduate level and including those participating in adult education and life-long learning courses), by local and national societies (often with a specific period or subject focus) and by individuals pursuing their own interests.

To develop these two strands will require different approaches and RESCUE would see the two as essentially complementary but it should be noted that Historic Environment Records are not, and never will be, 'complete' in any sense and they require the continual input of researchers if they are to grow and develop. Those involved in the learning experience will benefit directly from this in terms of the bodies of data represented by Historic Environment Records and also by studying the methods employed by researchers to obtain and interpret the data forming the Historic Environment Records.

Those using Historic Environment Records as a teaching resource will require access to specific bodies of data, suitable for use by groups of students (using the term in its widest meaning of anyone who is studying; children, adolescents, university students, mature and part time students, participants in the amateur/voluntary sector etc). It is far from clear that unmediated access to raw data pertaining to sites, monuments and landscapes held in files and on computer is the most appropriate or useful way for some or all of these groups to realise the potential of that data for their various and diverse needs. Some study of the ways in which such groups use such information and assessments of its suitability may be required in order to devise the best ways that information may be presented and disseminated. Synthesis of existing records may well be required in order to make the information available efficiently and easily for both students and teachers and the creation of datasets suitable for educational use is an issue that has cost and time implications for Record staff.

In contrast, researchers will need access to the raw data at first hand, and a critical issue here is to encourage university research students to undertake primary research using the resources represented by Historic Environment Records . Researchers from the amateur / voluntary sector often have the advantage here in enjoying the benefit of first hand local or regional knowledge which serves as a basis for detailed investigation of specific issues or case studies. One way of stimulating interest at the research level might be the compilation of county syntheses detailing the state of current state of knowledge, the identification of lacunae and the ways in which work to address outstanding issues might be taken forward. Elements of such an approach are already in place in certain areas in the form of the Regional Research Frameworks currently being undertaken under the aegis of English Heritage (good examples being the East Midlands Regional Research framework and the published framework for Eastern England; East Anglian Archaeology Occasional Papers Nos. 3 and 8). Such syntheses may also form an element of great value to those involved in the teaching/learning element.

How should Historic Environment Records publicise themselves?

Publicity should be considered in relation to the potential assets which are represented by the Records. Audits of existing data and the identification of lacunae will be of use to local and national societies and study groups who might then undertake the types of research necessary to address and eliminate these lacunae. To do this it will be necessary for individual Records to be able to contact the relevant groups and invite them to participate in enhancement programmes. Similarly liaison with universities and colleges will be needed in order to involve research students in undertaking work directed towards the resolution of those issues which require a research input. This approach can be extended into the areas of teaching and learning - the overall point being that publicity should be aimed appropriately so that the input of resources is not wasted or directed inappropriately. There is little point, for example, in informing school teachers that a Record exists if the nature of the data or the facilities for gaining access to it are unsuitable for use by school children.

What programmes should Historic Environment Records develop to reach previously excluded groups?

As noted above, synthesis is an important element in facilitating access to the basic resource represented by Historic Environment Records. Such syntheses should be approached with an awareness that there is no single 'grand narrative' concerning history and archaeology, but rather a series of overlapping and complementary (and contradictory) narratives which together constitute the fields of discourse known as history and archaeology. In view of this an understanding of the social nature of historical knowledge should form the basis of 'outreach' to different groups within society. The ways in which such outreach might be organised in terms of the specific structures and institutions to be put in place will vary depending upon the groups involved. A first step must be to audit, analyse and synthesise the composition of Historic Environment Records with a view to identifying the social groups best represented within them. A focus on the character and needs of under (or un-) represented groups is needed so that the nature of the work needed to rectify the situation can be determined. This will involve the collation of existing data and the acquisition of new data pertaining to those currently poorly represented. This is not necessarily a plea for a greater role for recent social history (although this might be of relevance in some cases), but will also involve investment in the survey, excavation and analysis of the types of sites, monuments and landscapes currently under-represented within the bodies of data held in Historic Environment Records. This may, in many areas, include the collation and publication of archives from unpublished excavations held in regional museums (relating, for example, to the medieval and post-medieval antecedents of industrial towns in northern England).

What should Historic Environment Records do to reach out to socially excluded/special interest groups?

Of themselves, Historic Environment Records can, of course do nothing, but greater investment in experienced staff with the time and skills needed to investigate the needs of local communities should lead to an appreciation of local interests and areas of concern. It is unlikely that a single programme will be appropriate across the country or even within individual regions and local responsiveness would seem to be the best way of moving forward in this regard. Proper funding is a pre-requisite if such schemes are to succeed.

Do you consider that the enclosed standards represent an appropriate and sustainable way forward for Historic Environment Records?

The standards appear appropriate and useful. The principal question is how they will be monitored and enforced, given that there is, at present, no body capable of setting or administering standards in British archaeology.

Do you consider that there are there additional ways in which Government can help support the sustainable development of Historic Environment Records?

The primary requirement is to place Historic Environment Records on a statutory footing in order that they can no longer be treated as an expendable resource to be eliminated by local authorities at times of financial stringency. Such support must also extend to the archives held by local and regional museums which are, in a very real sense, an extension of the mainly documentary resources which constitute the Historic Environment Records. While Historic Environment Records should remain locally based (rather than being centralised regionally), the power of local authorities to downgrade or destroy them should be removed. Central government should define minimum standards that must be maintained and take such powers as are needed to enforce these standards. The same must apply to the archives held in museums. It may be that additional funding is required in order that standards can be reached and maintained. Given that many local authorities will resist spending money on Historic Environment Records and on Museums (as seen in the annual rounds of closures, cuts and sackings experienced by the Historic Environment sector), it may be that grant aid will be needed, but this must only be provided once a minimum level of expenditure on Historic Environment Records has been established by statute.

How might Historic Environment Records provide information in a form which can be collated at regional level while retaining responsiveness and accommodating change at local level?

There seems little or no need for a regional level of organisation. The emphasis on regionalisation in the document is a troubling one as it seems to involve an assumption that this is a desirable and necessary development. RESCUE is not convinced that this is the case. The creation of regional centres carries with it the necessity to travel longer distances to consult records and consequently greater cost and inconvenience to users. The current network of Sites and Monuments Records is one that, for all the problems of underfunding and understaffing, works reasonably well and it would seem unnecessary to dismantle this in pursuit of a scheme which offers no clear advantages. The development of web-based resources (although this will be slow and expensive, possibly prohibitively so) may ultimately create a situation in which users can gain access to Historic Environment Records across the country from their own home or from public institutions such as libraries, thus obviating the need for the creation of regional centres.

Should local authorities be required to maintain Historic Environment Records and to a particular standard?

Yes. RESCUE has repeatedly called for legislation to place Historic Environment Records and museum archives on a statutory basis in order to safeguard them for the future. Already it is too late for many local and regional museums (including some of national and international status such as Stoke on Trent and Northampton) while Sites and Monuments Records are generally underfunded and operate under conditions of extreme pressure. RESCUE is of the opinion that statutory protection of both Records and archives is needed as a matter of urgency.

What sources of funding would be most suitable to help maintain and develop Historic Environment Records and why?

A combination of local and central government funding is required plus a greater contribution from the development industry whose current contribution is minimal although it is a major user of resources funded through the Council Tax. The precise proportions of such funding is beyond the writ of RESCUE to prescribe, but in drawing up funding levels and criteria it must be acknowledged that at present the situation is one of in which serious underfunding is endemic. Many of the problems which currently affect and constrain Sites and Monuments Records are down to understaffing, a lack of resources and basic facilities and an overall lack of investment.

RESCUE: The British Archaeological Trust
15a Bull Plain
Hertford
Hertfordshire
SG14 1DX