Archaeology Advisory Service

The key role of West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service is to provide informed and authoritative advice and information to the Planning Authorities in West Yorkshire to help conserve the most significant heritage sites that are affected by development proposals.

Advice can also be provided on site management and interpretation. To do this WYAAS holds and actively maintains the West Yorkshire Historic Environment Record.

Historic Environment Record (HER)

The HER is a publicly accessible record of West Yorkshire’s historic environment. It contains information on all known archaeological sites, historic buildings, find-spots and historic landscapes within West Yorkshire, ranging from finds of flint tools left by our ancestors 10,000 years ago to Cold War sites of the late 20th century.

Our records are regularly consulted by developers, members of the public, students, researchers, and a wide variety of archaeological organisations. Sources of information available within the HER include:

• Records of all designated sites in West Yorkshire

(world heritage site, scheduled ancient monuments, listed buildings, registered parks and gardens and cemeteries, battlefields and conservation areas)

• Reports of archaeological fieldwork conducted in West Yorkshire

• Historic mapping of the area

• Large aerial photography collection of archaeological sites

• Extensive archaeological reference library

We would always recommend that all researchers visit the HER in person, as we hold extensive amounts of un-digitised information. In addition to our visitor’s room in Morley, however, a version of the HER’s database can be searched online via the Heritage Gateway website.

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