Public Access to the Greater London Historic Environment Record Launched
Getty and Historic England are making London's rich history available to the public by opening up the Greater London Historic Environment Record (GLHER).
With nearly 90,000 entries collected over 40 years, the GLHER database is a critical tool for the protection of the capital’s past and a first point of call for professionals in heritage and development.
Now, anyone with an interest in London’s history can use the GLHER on a new and improved online platform to search and explore information on archaeological sites and discoveries, historic buildings, parks, landscapes and more.
When it comes to managing London’s rich historic environment, knowledge is power.
"When it comes to managing London’s rich historic environment, knowledge is power. Opening up this invaluable dataset means everyone interested in the heritage all around us can dig deeper into the facts and find out more. Historic England’s collaboration with Getty has reimagined the Greater London Historic Environment Record and set a new precedent, creating a remarkable and fit-for-purpose platform for enthusiasts and professionals alike."
Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive, Historic England
Visitors to the new GLHER platform can search for sites by borough, date, and other filters as well as discover relationships between sites through history.
The thousands of entries include iconic places such as Abbey Road Studios – famously associated with The Beatles – and archaeological discoveries in the last decade, like the remains of The Curtain Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse used by Shakespeare.
For professionals in the cultural heritage sector, the GLHER plays an important part in the planning process. The GLHER is regularly consulted to inform new development on sites across London to ensure historic sites are recognised and given proper consideration. Developers must request specialist searches of the GLHER to fulfil their obligations as laid out in planning policy.
The GLHER is powered by Arches, a free, open-source platform developed by Getty for use by organisations around the world to manage data and help protect cultural heritage. To date, Arches is being used by more than one hundred organisations and projects around the world to identify and map millions of cultural sites.
"When we initiated development of Arches more than 10 years ago, our aim was to make a strategic investment to assist heritage organisations worldwide in modernising their information infrastructure needed for the protection of heritage under their care. We are pleased that, with our partners at Historic England, Arches is being used to manage and share knowledge about the capital’s thousands of years of history and heritage.
We are deeply grateful to Historic England for their expertise and our many years of productive collaboration that has led to this powerful and accessible tool for Greater London, as well as a tailored version of Arches for the rest of the UK. This builds on Arches global use by more than one hundred heritage organisations and projects around the world."
Tim Whalen, John E. and Louise Bryson director of the Getty Conservation Institute
In addition to the new GLHER online platform, Historic England and Getty have also launched availability of Arches for HERs, a software package tailored for the specific needs of UK heritage organisations, including England’s 80-plus Historic Environment Record (HER) offices.
Arches for HERs has been developed through collaboration between Getty, Historic England, and the City of Lincoln, England.
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