Searching the Historic Environment Record
An HER search is the archaeological baseline for most applications. Here is how to request one, what the records mean, and what the search cannot tell you.
A Historic Environment Record search is the first substantive piece of archaeological evidence in most applications, and on a site with no designated assets it is often the only one the council asks for before deciding whether to require fieldwork. The record is held by the county or unitary authority, not by Historic England, and a search returns the known archaeology, historic buildings and past investigations within a study area you specify. Many records charge a commercial search fee and work to a lead time measured in days or weeks, so request it early.
The search tells you what is recorded. It does not tell you what is there, and the difference between those two things is where most archaeological risk on a development site actually sits.
What the record contains
A Historic Environment Record is a curated database with a mapping interface. The content typically covers:
- monument records: known sites, earthworks, buried features, industrial remains
- findspot records: artefacts recovered, including stray finds and metal-detected material
- event records: previous excavations, evaluations, watching briefs and surveys, with their results
- building records, including locally listed and unlisted buildings of interest
- designation data: listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks, conservation areas
- historic landscape characterisation, aerial photographic transcription and, in some areas, lidar interpretation
Records are maintained by an officer, usually within the authority's archaeology or conservation team, and the quality reflects local history. An area with a long tradition of fieldwork will have dense, well-dated records. An area without one will look empty for reasons that have nothing to do with the archaeology.
Several designation layers are also published nationally as open datasets, so a search can be cross-checked against the national planning data service and the National Heritage List for England.
How to make an enquiry and typical charges
Approach the record holder directly. Most publish a search request form, a charging schedule and a stated turnaround on their website.
What to supply:
- A site location plan with the boundary marked, ideally with a grid reference.
- The study area radius you want searched, commonly a kilometre for a greenfield site and less in a dense urban area.
- A short description of the proposal, including the depth and extent of groundworks.
- Confirmation of whether the enquiry is commercial, since fees usually differ for householders and students.
Charges are set locally and often scale with the study area or the officer time involved. Check the current schedule rather than relying on what a previous project cost, and budget for the possibility that an adjoining authority also has to be searched where the site sits near a boundary.
Ask for the data in a usable form. A spreadsheet of records with grid references, plus a shapefile or mapped output, saves hours of transcription compared with a PDF list.
Interpreting a record search result
Read the event records before the monument records. Past investigations tell you how much of the surrounding area has actually been looked at, which is the context for everything else in the return.
Three patterns are worth recognising:
A dense cluster of records along a road frontage with nothing behind it usually means the frontage has been developed and watched, and the back land has never been tested. That is a gap in knowledge, not an absence of archaeology.
A single undated monument record with a vague grid reference, derived from an antiquarian account, carries little weight on its own but will prompt an officer to ask for evaluation.
A series of negative evaluations immediately adjacent to your site is the most useful result you can get, because it is positive evidence that the area has been tested.
Date and precision matter. Records carry a spatial accuracy, and a point plotted to the nearest 100 metres should not be treated as a located feature.
What a search does not tell you
The record is a record of discovery, so its silences are ambiguous. Buried archaeology without surface expression, on land never ploughed up or built on, will not appear.
It also gives you no interpretation. A list of records is not an assessment of the significance of your site, nor of the effect of your groundworks on it, and submitting the search output as if it were an assessment is a reliable way to attract a holding objection from the county archaeologist.
Two further limits. Records of events may postdate the search if a nearby scheme is in progress, so ask whether any current fieldwork is known. And geotechnical information held elsewhere, such as borehole logs, often reveals made ground depths and alluvial sequences that change the archaeological picture entirely.
Feeding the result into a desk-based assessment
The search is an input. The output is an Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment prepared to the relevant professional standard, which combines the record search with historic mapping, aerial photography, geology, previous ground investigation, a site walkover and a reasoned statement of archaeological potential by period.
That assessment then does three things an officer needs. It states the likely presence, date and condition of remains. It assesses the effect of the proposed groundworks, by depth and footprint. And it recommends a proportionate response, whether that is no further work, geophysics, trial trenching or a condition requiring a watching brief.
Where the site also has standing heritage interest, the archaeological assessment and the heritage statement cover different ground, and our comparison of a Heritage Statement and an Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment sets out which document answers which question.
An illustrative search on an urban plot
Take an illustrative case. A backland plot behind a high street in a market town, proposed for four houses with a shared private drive and shallow foundations on a raft.
The search returns the medieval town defences recorded 80 metres away, three findspots of medieval pottery within the study area, a nineteenth century maltings on the plot shown on historic mapping, and two watching briefs on the high street frontage that recorded truncated medieval deposits under a metre of made ground.
Read together, those records suggest medieval occupation deposits may survive beneath post-medieval made ground, and that the maltings may have left footings and a basement. The practical consequence is not refusal. It is a foundation design question, since a raft at shallow depth may avoid the archaeological horizon altogether, and a scheme that demonstrates that is far easier to condition than one that proposes piling without comment.
That is the use of the search: it turns archaeology into a design input early enough to respond to.
When a county archaeologist asks for more
Expect a request for fieldwork where the search and assessment show potential and the groundworks would reach it. The usual sequence is geophysical survey on open ground, then trial trenching, with an Archaeological Field Evaluation reported before determination where the authority needs the answer to decide.
Pre-determination evaluation is more common than applicants expect on sites of high potential, because a condition cannot resolve a question that affects whether the development is acceptable at all. Where the issue is mitigation rather than acceptability, a condition requiring a written scheme of investigation is the normal route.
Two things shorten the process. Agree the written scheme of investigation with the archaeological adviser before any fieldwork, and ask what reporting they want before determination as opposed to after. In London and some other areas, mapped archaeological zones change the trigger, as our note on archaeological priority areas and the county archaeologist explains.
One honest uncertainty: how much evaluation is proportionate is a judgement, and two advisers can reach different views on similar sites. Early contact is the only reliable way to find out which view you are dealing with.
Browse the report types by category to see which archaeological and heritage documents a site is likely to need before you commission anything. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval. For specialist technical reports, qualified professional input may be required.
Frequently asked questions
Who holds the Historic Environment Record for my site?
The county council or unitary authority, usually within its archaeology or conservation team, and in some areas a national park authority. It is not held by Historic England. Where a site sits close to an administrative boundary, the adjoining authority's record may also need searching, so budget for two enquiries.
How much does an HER search cost and how long does it take?
Charges are set locally and often scale with the study area or officer time, with different rates for commercial and non-commercial enquiries. Turnaround is typically days to weeks. Check the record holder's current charging schedule and stated lead time rather than relying on the cost of a previous project.
What study area should I ask for?
A kilometre radius is the common default for a greenfield site, and a smaller area can be appropriate in dense urban settings where records are numerous. Your archaeologist should set it by reference to the site's character and the scale of groundworks. Supply a boundary plan and a grid reference with the request.
Does an empty search result mean there is no archaeology?
No. The record is a record of discovery, so land that has never been ploughed, excavated or watched can appear blank while holding well-preserved remains. Read the event records first to see how much of the area has actually been investigated. An absence of previous fieldwork is a gap in knowledge, not reassurance.
Is the search enough on its own for a planning application?
Rarely. The search is raw data. Councils expect a desk-based assessment that combines it with historic mapping, geology, previous ground investigation and a site walkover, and that reaches a reasoned conclusion on potential and effect. Submitting the search output alone usually attracts a holding objection from the archaeological adviser.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.