Explore Kent’s Past

The Kent Historic Environment Record (HER), maintained by Kent County Council, is an extensive collection of information relating to Kent’s heritage. At its heart is a database containing information on over 40,000 archaeological sites and finds, historic buildings and landscapes. Records cover sites dating from the paleolithic period to the present day and include a wide range of monuments such as iron age hillforts, Roman villas, medieval castles and water mills, and 20th century pillboxes and Cold War bunkers.

In the past this information was only available at the KCC offices, but following a recent project called ‘Exploring Kent’s Past’, part-funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Kent HER database is now available online (www.kent.gov.uk/HER). Users can explore the heritage of their town or village, research a particular period or theme or learn more about a site that is already known to them. The website also contains a range of suggestions for how people can get involved in caring for Kent’s heritage, such as by joining a local archaeology group, carrying out research or participating in the Shorne Woods Community Archaeology project. There are also ‘60 Days out in the Past’ for people who want to visit some of Kent’s outstanding heritage sites.

In addition to the new website, the Exploring Kent’s Past project has allowed the KCC Heritage Conservation team to meet a huge number of people. The team attended 79 events with local groups and societies, giving talks and holding workshops on the HER and Kent’s heritage to more than 3,000 people.

A number of volunteers are now working with the HER team. These include members of the Faversham Society and the Maidstone Area Archaeological Group, as well as a number of individual volunteers. They check the information already in the HER database and add new information from their own research and from archaeological reports. Their help has been invaluable in keeping the information up to date and accurate.

Three education packs were also created as part of the project. These are designed specifically for use by school children and they have links to the National Curriculum at Key Stages 2 and 3. They were created in conjunction with the KCC (Schools) History Advisor and encourage children to use the Historic Environment Record in their studies.

The HER team are always keen to work with new volunteers or local societies to improve and add to our information and help conserve Kent’s heritage. If you would like to discuss this with us please call 01622 696918.

ABOVE TOP: KCC Schools History Advisor Ian Coulson inspires a class using information from the HER.

Screenshot of the Kent HER database.