Sub-series details: CRDA/64/DS/1

The Record of Scheduled Monuments (RSM) holds data about national monuments which are being, or have been, assessed under the Monuments Protection Programme (MPP). See the Series catalogue for further information about the MPP.

The Record of Scheduled Monuments (RSM) is English Heritage's primary national database of scheduled monument information. It was originally built to facilitate the administrative processes involved in scheduling, and in this respect is more like the Listing Management System than the Listed Building System (LBS). However, the RSM also holds much data on scheduled monuments analogous to that held by the LBS on listed buildings which is of use to those involved in ancient monument casework in regional teams.

The process of scheduling monuments and the consequent requirement to retain records of that statutory process began in 1882. The first project for computerisation of the process began in 1980.

The RSM system was intended to computerise scheduling procedures and facilitate machine-based systems for recording and monitoring what happens to monuments, including the reports of the Field Monument Wardens who visit monuments regularly to comment on condition and management needs.

The Heritage Protection datasets and their related documentation are public records under the Public Records Acts, 1958 and 1967. The National Archives has assigned the series reference WORK 93 to these datasets.

Certain fields and tables in the Record of Scheduled Monuments dataset are closed under Section 40 (2) (Personal information) of the Freedom of Information Act. These data are closed for 84 years and are scheduled to open in 2089. The same closure ruling has also been applied to certain items in the documentation collection.

The datasets and documentation are subject to Crown Copyright. Copies may be made for private study and research purposes only.

RSM datasets are subject to registration under the Data Protection Acts. Owners, occupiers and those subject to management agreements may request information from the Record of Scheduled Monuments; the name and address [of the applicant] would be required for a subject access request. There may be a possible Section 33 exemption of 'generic' information. In all cases, the Department would need to authorise provision of subject access under the Data Protection Acts.

The language of the materials is English.

NDAD holds documentation relevant to RSM datasets in the Dataset Documentation Catalogue. For further details, see Links to dataset catalogues.

General publications produced by English Heritage, describing their work, are held by NDAD in the Dataset Documentation Catalogue, reference CRDA/64/DD/6.

It is likely that the Oracle server ran on a SUN system with Oracle client access from PCs running Windows, since the system was run on Solaris at time of transfer.

An earlier incarnation of the system used the DEC system 5400. "The timely availability of the DEC system 5400 on the UK market solved the hardware decision since it filled the product gap between the MicroVax series of machines which were below the requirement and the 6000 machines which were well above the likely financial provision." 1

At time of transfer, the system was being run on Solaris 7 for the database server, and on Solaris 8 for the application server.

The data relating to Old County Numbers (OCNs) was originally held on an earlier system called 'Superfile'. The process of transferring data from this into the main system began in about 1993. (See Links to dataset catalogues for further information on the difference between the MPP and OCN data domains).

An earlier incarnation of the system was run on ULTRIX. 2

Oracle database, processed using Oracle 8i, Oracle 9i Application Server, Oracle Developer Forms 6i and Reports 6I software.

Windows-based application that was accessed via a browser. Data was mainly input digitally via transfer from a satellite system into holding tables, and then into the live system.

See Links to dataset catalogues.

The dataset is dynamic in the sense that it was a live database (active since c.1990) and new entries were added continually. The dataset as transferred to NDAD constitutes a snapshot as at 2004.

Data was collected in the field by Monuments Protection Programme Archaeologists (MPPAs) working to a uniform set of data standards, and edited to ensure conformance to these standards. For some fields there was validation on the satellite system from which data was transferred; also validation in holding tables prior to loading and at the point of transfer to the live system. Further validation, editing and quality-assurance of text in particular, took place according to house standards and standards agreed with the Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport).

See Links to dataset catalogues.

Dataset catalogues provide more detailed information about individual datasets, and are currently available for the following dataset(s):

1. See Nigel Clubb's articles on the procurement and operational requirements of the RSM system (Dataset Documentation Catalogue, CRDA/64/DD/7/1-2).

2. For further information, see Nigel Clubb's articles on the RSM system (Dataset Documentation Catalogue, CRDA/64/DD/7/1-2).