Recording the Historic Environment
Part of the Heritage Counts series. 3 minute read.
Under the 'Recording the Historic Environment' theme, Heritage Indicators brings together statistics about important national projects that aim to enhance our understanding of the historic environment. This includes changes in Historic Environment Records over time and developments in local lists.
Historical statistics are also provided within the dataset about the progress of the now-complete programme of Historic Landscape Characterisation projects and changes to the National Register of Historic Vessels.
Historic Environment Records (HERs)
What are Historic Environment Records?
Historic Environment Records are services that provide access to resources that record an area's historic environment, usually managed by a local authority. They are an important starting point for research into an area's archaeology, built heritage and history.
They provide information on a wide range of buildings and sites, from sites where prehistoric tools have been found to pillboxes from the Second World War, including sites that aren't nationally designated.
They are also an invaluable source of information for planning, development control and land management.
Figure HER 7.1a – Historic Environment Records (HERs), 2023
Source: Historic England
Figure HER 7.1b – Historic Environment Records in England, 2023
Figure note: Click the tab at the top to see the percentage. The map can be filtered by clicking on the ranges within the legend.
Source: Historic England
Local heritage lists
Local heritage lists are one way in which local heritage (buildings, monuments, sites, places, areas, historic parks and gardens or other designed landscapes) can be formally identified. This is part of the wider range of designation, meaning their significance can be considered in planning applications affecting the building or site or its setting.
- A total of 214 district councils and unitary authorities in England are covered by local lists, representing a national coverage of 67.5%
- Local list coverage is not uniform across the country. For example, only 55% of authorities in the South West have a local list, compared to 91% of authorities in London
In February 2021, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced the successful applicants to its local heritage list campaign. The campaign provided £1.5 million of funding to support the development of local heritage lists in 22 areas.
Figure HER 7.2a – Local Listing, 2023
Figure note: Click the legend to filter by range.
Source: Historic England
Figure HER 7.2b – Local Listing by region, 2023
Source: Historic England
Dataset
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Recording the Historic Environment
ODS spreadsheet of the raw data.
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