HERs are information services that provide access to comprehensive and dynamic resources relating to the historic environment of their locality for planning and development control as well as public benefit and educational use.

Over recent years, there has been a significant increase in capital funding for school buildings across England, leading to large numbers of schools being remodelled, refurbished or rebuilt. The various funding streams (such as Building Schools for the Future or BSF) all have ambitious objectives to improve standards and facilities across the school estate, with over £20bn of scheduled investment over the next few years.

As highlighted in our Conservation Areas at Risk Campaign, launched in June 2009, one of the most effective tools that Local Planning Authorities have at their disposal to control small scale erosion of character in their conservation areas is the Article 4 Direction. English Heritage has produced a step-by-step guide on how to make an Article 4 Direction, amplifying the text in Guidance on the Management of Conservation Areas (2006).

This guidance has been prepared jointly by English Heritage and CABE to help local authorities in their consideration of planning applications for large digital screens in public places. Some of these will be part of the Live Sites programme for the London 2012 Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games, installed by the organising committee, LOCOG. However, increasingly there are proposals from other organisations, broadcasters and commercial companies to install large digital screens in towns and cities for a variety of purposes.

Collaborative guidance from the Homes and Communities Agency and English Heritage to help developers and planners capitalise on the inherited landscape in the shaping of places where people wish to live and work.

England’s 200-year-old network of inland canals and rivers is experiencing a renaissance. Derelict and often forgotten waterways have been rediscovered and are used today more than at the height of the industrial revolution, in ways that the great canal engineers of the 18th and 19th century could never have envisaged.

The aim of this document is to enable entry of relevant terms relating to archaeological science data into an Historic Environment Record (HER) in a way that is compatible with other archaeological entries and is searchable. The objective is to help specialists choose the right terms for their data in the first instance and to provide the information in an appropriate form for direct entry to the HER.

This guide explains what scheduling means for you as the owner or occupier of a scheduled monument and summarizes the main provisions of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 (as amended) (‘the 1979 Act’), which is the legal framework for the protection of scheduled monuments. The guide does not attempt to be fully comprehensive and you are strongly advised to consult English Heritage, or seek independent professional advice, before carrying out any works that might affect the site of a scheduled monument.

Despite their historic character, traditional farm buildings are important to the future of the countryside. As well as contributing to its local distinctiveness and historic interest they also represent a major economic asset in terms of their capacity to house new as well as traditional economic activities.

England’s Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) and National Parks cover nearly a quarter of the land area of England, which, together form some of our finest protected landscapes. As well as being landscapes of great aesthetic quality, these protected areas provide a major repository for some of our most important historic sites, containing over 63,300 listed buildings, more than 10,400 nationally important ancient monuments (about half of those designated in England), in excess of 300 designated historic parks and gardens, and a third of English Heritage’s properties.

English Heritage is in the process of developing non-statutory best practice guidance for local authorities and their communities for the identification and management of local heritage assets and the consolidation of these assets as a local list.

This report, co-published by CABE and English Heritage, reflects the desire of both agencies to ensure a good process for addressing character and identity. It focuses specifically on the experience of planning for regeneration in housing market renewal (HMR) areas and has been produced in partnership with Elevate East Lancashire.

This guidance is designed to help Overview and Scrutiny Committees plan and carry out constructive reviews of heritage and the management of the historic environment in their area.

This year English Heritage has for the first time included endangered conservation areas in its register of Heritage at Risk – the national database of buildings, monuments and landscapes that need to be protected, not only for the future but for the huge contribution they can make to the communities of today.

The harvests of 2007 and 2008 were poor in many parts of the country. This has considerably reduced the amount of thatching straw on the open market. Local authorities are encountering a growing volume of request for the use of other materials which may arise from these shortages.

The first report of a two-stage project looking at staff resources for archaeology and building conservation within local authorities and English Heritage, particularly within the planning process, prepared by English Heritage, the Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers and the Institute of Historic Building Conservation.

This statement gives guidance on delivering successful affordable rural housing projects in historic hamlets, villages and market towns. It is aimed at those involved in enabling or providing affordable housing and at local authority planning and specialist historic environment staff.

Between 2007 and 2008 Oxford Archaeology, commissioned by English Heritage, conducted a major investigation into the crime of Nighthawking, the illegal search for and removal of antiquities from the ground by criminals using metal detectors.

Government Historic Estates Unit guidance on managing heritage assets

Bats are often found in traditional buildings because they provide a large number of measures into buildings that will attract potential roosting places, and their design offers many entry points.

The Council of Europe’s European Landscape Convention (the ‘Florence Convention’ – the ‘ELC’) is the first international instrument devoted exclusively to the protection, management and planning of landscape in its entirety.

This guidance has been prepared jointly by English Heritage and CABE to help local authorities in the consideration of planning applications for large digital screens in public places.

Information on electronic communication

This Charter sets out the service provided by English Heritage for those involved in changing or influencing change to the historic environment.

Nighthawking is the illegal search for and removal of antiquities from the ground using metal detectors, without the permission of the landowners, or on prohibited land such as Scheduled Monuments.