About Peterborough HER

Peterborough HER

Peterborough City Council Historic Environment Record (HER), formerly known as Sites and Monuments Record, is the definitive record of the known heritage assets within the boundaries of Peterborough Unitary Authority. Its history reflects the changes that have taken place in the area since the mid-1960s, with information collected over the years by individuals and organisations, including local historians and antiquarians, local societies, contracting units, researchers, national bodies and heritage professionals. The HER database digitally maintains three types of record, monuments of all periods (from stray finds to earthworks, dating from the Palaeolithic to the modern period), events (investigative fieldwork such as excavations or surveys), and sources/archives, supported by a Geographic Information System (GIS). The HER also contains information on Listed Buildings, Buildings of Local Historic Interest, and Parks and Gardens, including Burghley House, and maintains the Selected Heritage Inventory for Natural England (SHINE), as part of the nationally consistent dataset of undesignated historic environment features of England eligible from countryside stewardship. Finally, the HER holds a digital collection of grey literature reports and additional resources, including Peterborough City Council’s historic landscape survey of 1999 with annotated and colour-coded survey maps (digitally scanned), and monochrome prints of the Nene Valley Research Committee (NVRC) collection of aerial photographs (on loan from Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery; original negatives held at the NMR).