Historic Environment Record Search - Wychavon District Council

The HER data
This document contains two types of report:
1) The Single Line or Short Report – this provides the basic information: the WSM Number, the
Name/Title of the Record, the monument type, the date range and finally the National Grid
Reference (the WSM number is the unique number given to each record within the HER).
2) The Full Report – this provides the above information plus a more detailed description of
the monument/site/find/fieldwork etc. It also contains the sources and references that
the record is based upon and gives its relationship (if any) to other associated sites. A ‘full’
report is not definitive and all sources mentioned should be consulted to gain a full
understanding of the record.
This report also contains the location of the records on maps (unless you have requested GIS data
in a shape file, which will be sent in an email with this report). Where appropriate/requested we
will also include historical maps.
1) GIS Shape Files
We can provide site location data as shape files for use with your own GIS system. This is the
best way of sending and receiving complex spatial information. We send this out by email.
In built up areas where there are a large number of records, the data will be sent out in several
files. We will provide site location data as individually themed shape files for each type of
record. This will allow you to switch on each HER archaeological theme independently and is
most appropriate for use by our customers whose projects are located in areas of intense
archaeological activity, where there is more likely to be a need to discreetly interrogate the
data and examine spatial relationships.
2) pdf Maps
If you do not have a GIS, location maps will be included in this report. The clarity of these
maps is not perfect, but they are clear enough to distinguish all the site locations - especially if
you zoom in.
The maps will show the location of all the sites in the report, labelled with the WSM number.
Please note: The labels only give the approximate location of the sites and monuments. The
reason for this is that if there is more than one record for a location or there are lots of sites
in close proximity – i.e. on a street of historic houses – then the labels overlie each other and
cannot be read. We, therefore, move or adjust the labels very slightly to make them easier to
see. To get the precise location you must use the grid reference.
The HER is set up with a number of themes or layers. Each theme contains a different type of
record e.g. Historic Buildings or Excavations. This allows us to switch the various themes on
and off to look at different types of record separately. The various themes are colour coded
to make them easily identifiable (see the key on the maps).
3) Historic Maps
We can also supply copies of Landmark Digital mapping based on 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd and 4 th Edition
Ordnance Survey maps. These are drawn from several maps and are referred to as Epochs not
Editions. It is important to note that Copyright restrictions mean that they must not be used
in any report and are for research purposes only. If you have requested these they will be
included below.
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