Unlocking Essex’s Past

Aims:

Make the Essex HER more accessible and understandable to a wider audience.

Objectives:

  1. Make HER available on-line for variety of audiences
  2. Provide illustrative material for HER outreach programme, especially 3D and 2D digital reconstructions of archaeological sites and historic buildings
  3. Produce digital copy of HER photographic collection to increase accessibility and also to act as security copy
 		 


Project Details and Outcomes:

1. Web site – http://unlockingessex.essexcc.gov.uk. This provides access to an on-line version of the HER and users can either carry out a simple ‘free text-type search’ or use a structured search mechanism using such criteria as ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’. Several ‘pre-set’ searches are also available, for example ‘all medieval castles in Essex’. Most recently, mapping facilities have been added, providing a simple ‘GIS-type’ interface. A wide range of documents are also available on-line to help users, providing information on topics such as the various periods in Essex, what archaeologists do, historic town reports and and many more. Users can also carry out media searches to look for virtual models (Apple Quicktime is needed for this), photographs, and video.

2. Children’s version – http://uepkids.essexcc.gov.uk This provides an introduction to archaeology and the heritage of Essex for schoolchildren. There are topics such as ‘help with my homework’ and also information on key facts and people, an dplaces to visit in Essex,

3. 20,000 images scanned, covering a wide variety of types of photograph and site, but many are aerial photographs. These were scanned by a specialist company but ECC staff are having to add extra information to enable them to be fully integrated with the Unlocking Essex’s Past web site database.

16 2D and 3D digital reconstructions (e.g. see above – Tilty Abbey, Chignall Roman villa); these cover the major periods and some of the most important monuments such as Colchester town and Tilbury Fort.


Resources and Delivery and/or Partnerships:   

  • Project Officer (funded by HLF) – full time for 2 years

  • Specialist Illustrators – to prepare reconstructions, in-house staff
  • External IT consultants – Welcome Consultants
  • County Council’s IT partner – BT
  • External IT consultants for scanning images
  • User Group to advise on website development.

Funding:

  • Heritage Lottery Fund
  • New Opportunities Fund
  • Essex County Council

The variety of funding organisations has provided challenges as they all have different priorities and it is difficult to produce an integrated project that is internally consistent and meets the needs of all the organisations and partners involved. For example, our partners in the NOF-funded Essex Sense of Place project wanted to choose one company to do all the digitising but the company chosen was not the best from our point of view, and we now have to do more work to ensure the digitised images meet our requirements.

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Duration of Project: from 2004 to present, ongoing

Sustainability: future development of the web site is now dependent on own funding. Other projects have provided some finance to develop the Illustrators’ use of 3D modelling software. IT support is provided as part of Essex County Council’s partnership with BT.


Evaluation: self-monitored for HLF; also feedback form that enables users to send in comments and requests. We have also experimented with setting up a discussion form but that has had limited success until now.


Contact: Want to know more? For more information about this project click here.

Or contact: paul.gilman@essexcc.gov.uk