About the Historic Environment service

The historic environment consists of the physical remains of our history and is made up of a variety of elements. It includes:

• the character of the historic landscape
• buried archaeological remains
• preserved evidence of the past environment such as ancient pollen grains in peat bogs
• above ground ruins
• standing, functioning buildings

Parts of this environment are protected as designated sites or areas. These include:

• listed buildings
• scheduled monuments
• registered parks
• conservation areas

What we do

We maintain the Historic Environment Record (formerly the Sites and Monuments Record) and we operate a development control advice service for the two local planning authorities, outside of the National Parks.

We provide advice about the conservation and management of the county's archaeological sites and monuments and its historic buildings and landscapes, except within the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks which have their own historic environment advisory services.

We do not undertake commercial consultancy work or fieldwork projects such as archaeological excavation or building recording. Professional archaeological contractors and consultants or historic building specialists will carry these out. We will provide guidance to facilitate such work.

We do not provide advice on Scheduled Monuments or Listed Buildings. Historic England provide advice on Scheduled Monuments and Grade I and II listed buildings, while the relevant local planning authority provide advice on Grade II listed buildings.

Search for scheduled monuments or listed buildings (Historic England website)

No charge is made for providing advice concerning the county's historic environment. There is no fee for consulting the Historic Environment Record (HER) in person, although a small fee is charged for printing copies of records. For larger searches undertaken by the HER Officer, there is a charge for the Officer's time. 

The Historic Environment Service is hosted within the Thriving Communities directorate of Westmorland and Furness Council, operating as a shared service and covering the areas of both Westmorland and Furness and Cumberland local authorities. Enquires and advice for both areas are covered by the team based in Westmorland and Furness Council.