Bristol Historic Environment Record

Bristol Historic Environment Record

The Bristol Historic Environment Record (HER) contains information about historic Bristol. At present there are over 7000 entries and it is constantly being added to, and interpretations refined.

The HER can tell you about

• Historic Buildings and Monuments
• Archaeological excavations and finds
• Historic landscapes

The main part of the HER is a computer database. Each entry within this database contains a summary of what is currently known about a monument or excavation, find or survey. The entries are plotted on a digital map using a Geographical Information System (GIS). As part of the Urban Archaeological Strategies project, funded by English Heritage, Bristol City Council has set up the Urban Archaeological Database (UAD) which concentrates on the city centre, and forms part of the HER. The second stage of the project has been the writing of the Bristol Urban Archaeological Assessment. This documents the archaeological research that has taken place in the historic heart of the city and will be published in due course by English Heritage.

As well as the computerised records, the HER contains copies of historic maps, air photographs and archaeological fieldwork reports. Records from the HER are regularly exchanged with English Heritage's Excavation Index, hosted by the Archaeology Data Service.

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