Access & charging policy

Kent County Council

Historic Environment Record

Charging and Access Policy

Last updated: January 2025

1 Purpose of policy

This policy is intended to provide Historic Environment Record (HER) staff and customers with a clear description of what information is available from the Kent HER, how it can be obtained and what charges may be required.

2 Definition

The Kent Historic Environment Record is an information service that provides access to information on the historic environment of Kent and Medway. It consists of a database linked to a mapping system, supported by aerial photographs, archaeological reports and other textual and graphical resources. It is maintained by the Heritage Conservation team within Kent County Council.

3 Available information

HER Information Resources

The Kent HER is a complex record that consists of several information resources.

Historic Environment Record database information

The core of the HER is the main HER database. This is a SQL Server database called HBSMR (Idox PLC). It consists of a range of modules each of which includes information on an aspect of heritage information. These include Monuments, Finds, Events, Sources, Designations, Consultations, Themes, People & Organisations.

All HER database records are available to enquirers. The only circumstances in which information would be withheld from an enquirer is when the HER staff have reason to believe that releasing the information might endanger the building, archaeological site or find to which it relates.

HER database information will usually be supplied in a PDF or Microsoft Word file. It will also usually be accompanied by spatial data in Geographic Information Systems format (ESRI) but this can also be supplied in a hardcopy or digital labelled map.

Archaeological reports

The HER maintains a collection of more than 12,000 archaeological and other heritage reports. Most are in both paper and digital (PDF) format though approximately 1 % of reports are only available in paper format. No report may be supplied or copied unless KCC holds the copyright, has been licensed to make a copy, or if the report is in the public domain. If copyright is still held by the authors and KCC has not been licensed to make a copy then it is up to the customer to secure copyright in advance of a request to copy being made. All archaeological reports are available for public viewing by appointment.

Historic Maps

The HER team have access to several historic maps, in particular:

  • Partial coverage of the tithe maps (c.1860) but not the full apportionments (these can be obtained from the Kent History and Library Centre or from the Kent Archaeological Society website)
  • The Ordnance Surveyor’s field drawings (c. 1800)
  • The Ordnance Survey 1st edition 25 inch map (1862-1875)
  • The Ordnance Survey 2nd edition 25inch map (1897-1900)
  • The Ordnance Survey 3rd edition 25 inch map (1909-1923)
  • The Ordnance Survey 4th edition 25 inch map (1929-1952)

Publicly accessible versions of the first four editions of the historic Ordnance Survey maps are available via the map on this website. For copyright reasons the maps may otherwise only be supplied if they have additional data (eg HER data points) added. The Tithe Maps are only available from the Kent History and Library Centre.

Aerial photographs

The Kent History and Library Centre manage a vertical aerial photograph collection. Most photographs are available to enquirers, but some cannot be supplied for copyright reasons.

Year

Available formats

Copyright

1946/7

Photocopy, digital

No restrictions

1961

Photocopy, digital

No restrictions

1967

Photocopy

No restrictions

1972

Photocopy

No restrictions

1985

Photocopy

No restrictions

1990

Photocopy, digital

No restrictions

1995

Photocopy

Photocopy only

1999

Photocopy, digital

Photocopy only

2003

Photocopy, digital

KCC internal use only

2005/6

Digital

KCC internal use only

2008/9

Digital

KCC internal use only

4 Access to the information

The HER staff complies with the Equality Act 2010 and will try to ensure that the needs of all Users are accommodated so that they can receive the HER information in whatever manner they choose.

The HER staff will try to ensure that the needs of all Users are accommodated so that they can receive the HER information in whatever format they prefer.

The main ways that HER information is accessed at present include:

  • Online via this website (although the online HER only contains a subset of the full HER information)
  • Online via the Heritage Gateway
  • By email
  • By post in hardcopy or digital format
  • In the form of Geographic Information System data, spreadsheets or other derived digital datasets
  • In person at the HER Office (by prior arrangement)

Historic Environment Record
Kent County Council
Invicta House
County Hall
Maidstone
ME14 1XX

03000 413358

heritage@kent.gov.uk

HER information can include complex and technical archaeological terminology. The HER staff try to make this more accessible by writing a simple ‘Summary’ field for each HER record. The HER team are, however, happy to explain any HER information if an enquirer wishes.

Any permanent change to the HER service will be announced on the About Kent HER page.

Kent County Council complies with the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and the Environmental Information Regulations (2004).

5 Charging policy

No charge is made for HER information except where the information is requested for commercial reasons for which a charging scheme applies.

This charging regime is described on Kent County Council’s Publication Scheme.

 

Appendix I

Licence Agreement for the use of data from the Kent Historic Environment Record (HER):

25th August 2023 Terms and Conditions

  1. By accepting the data supplied with this agreement the recipient is deemed to have accepted all the terms and conditions contained herein. If the recipient does not accept all the terms and conditions they must notify Kent County Council and destroy the data and any accompanying information, in whatever format, that they may have received.
  2. HER data is provided for the sole use of the licensee for the purposes of the initial request and will not be passed on to third parties or used for other purposes than that for which it was supplied without prior written permission from KCC.
  1. It is the responsibility of the licensee to ensure that updated information is obtained from the Kent Historic Environment Record where there is a significant delay between the supply of HER data and the production of a report.
  2. On completion of the project for which the data has been supplied the licensee will erase all copies of the HER data held in any form.
  1. By this licence, Kent County Council grants permission for the reproduction of the data, including in mapped form, for the purposes of the project for which it has been secured only. The data is the copyright of Kent County Council and the original authors and its supply under this licence does not transfer copyright. Where information in the data is used or published it should be accompanied by appropriate citation referring to the original authors. The Kent Historic Environment Record should be suitably acknowledged as the source of the HER data. The licensee will provide one digital copy of each report produced as a result of using the HER data for inclusion within the Kent Historic Environment Record.
  1. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of HER data, Kent County Council bears no legal responsibility for the accuracy or comprehensiveness of the data provided and accepts no liability for indirect, consequential or incidental damages or losses arising from use of the data.
  2. Failure to comply with any of the terms and conditions of this agreement will be construed as a breach of these terms and conditions and will result in the immediate termination of the licence. On receiving notification that a license has been terminated the licensee will immediately erase or otherwise destroy all copies of the HER data.
  1. This licence relates to the HER data contained in Schedule 1 (attached).
  1. Kent County Council retains its right to use legal proceedings to protect its copyright.

Licence Agreement for the use of digital data from the Kent Historic Environment Record (HER): Schedule 1

The Licence Agreement relates to the following data supplied by the Kent HER in any media format.

  1. HER data for the geographical area forming the basis of the request, including:
  • Monument data (including buildings, crash sites, farmsteads, findspots, hedgerows, landscapes, listed buildings, maritime, monument or place records)
  • Event data
  • Finds data
  • Sources data
  • National and local heritage designations
  • Characterisation data
  • Cropmark data
  • Aerial photographs
  • Historic Maps
  • Information on grey-literature reports held by the HER
  1. Representations of the data in 1. above supplied in any format including but not limited to text, Geographic Information System data, maps.