Heritage gateway

English Heritage is working in collaboration with ALGAO (the Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers) and IHBC (the Institute of Historic Building Conservation) in a five-year project to build a 'heritage gateway' to England's local and national historic environment records. A key objective is to develop the flexibility to provide integrated access to local and national heritage information resources as part of the programme of reforms proposed by the government's 'Heritage Protection for the 21st Century' initiative.

A prototype website was first made available in April 2006 after a year of planning and development. This provided access to a boundary map of England's historic environment records, with contact information and news articles as well as local education and outreach project information.

A mechanism to cross-search live local and national datasets has been developed for the website from May 2007. More datasets are being linked to this search as the project progresses. Current national datasets include:

Listed Buildings Online – the List of buildings of architectural or historic interest online
Images of England – contemporary colour photographs of England’s Listed Buildings
PastScape – information about England’s archaeological and architectural heritage
ViewFinder – historic photographs of England
NMR Excavation Index – a guide to the archaeological excavations and interventions carried out in England
Local Authority Historic Environment Records are also adding their data to Heritage Gateway. These currently include:

Cambridgeshire HER
Cheshire HER
City of York HER
Essex HER
Lincolnshire HER
Norfolk HER
Somerset HER
South Gloucestershire HER