This application is seeking funding to refresh outdated optical microscopy equipment that is used by our heritage scientists in their research to understand, manage and protect the historic environment of England. Upgrading the equipment will help us transform our ability to capture information about the historic assets we work with, and to share it more widely for public and professional benefit.

This project will investigate how digital data from archaeological excavations can be made more useful and interesting to a range of users and audiences. It will produce a plan and methods to get such data more consistently recorded, analysed, disseminated and archived in a way that is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-useable (FAIR). The project has four objectives 1) Digital Standards; 2) Heritage Data; 3) Stratigraphy Standards; 4) Search Tools; that aim to address 2 research areas: 1. How can we encourage the sharing, linking and interoperability of archaeological data and information, particularly information derived from the commercial sector in order to maximise public value and enhance the research potential of archaeological data? 2. How can we ensure the consistent development, application and enforcement of existing technical information and data standards and their promotion to others? Over the last 20 years the Heritage sector and others have concentrated on how the digital data created and stored on computers can be preserved to the same degree that museum objects, like the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum, can be kept for the benefit of future generations. This interest in digital preservation has been especially strong in the archaeological world where excavation data sets are being increasingly gathered as "born digital" data, using the latest computer technologies, i.e. data created on, and only preservable on a computer. Archaeologists, are particularly concerned to make sure that digital records of excavations are safely digitally archived and preserved for future research, because an archaeological excavation cannot be repeated. This focus has helped address the principle concerns about "how do we keep this stuff digitally". But although there are now well established digital archives, such as The Archaeology Data Service, their next challenge is whether the data are preserved and accessible in a way that makes that data most useful to others beyond the archives and the archivists? This project will address the current problems caused by the lack of standardized approaches to digital archiving of archaeological data using the particular case study of stratigraphic and phasing data. Stratigraphic data form the backbone of all the related archaeological records from each excavated site and are essential for integrated analysis, wider synthesis and accessible archiving of the growing body of archaeological data and reports generated through the commercial archaeological sector in the UK and internationally. The stratigraphic record, usually in the form of a stratigraphic matrix, with associated relationships and data, acts as a primary, if not the primary piece of 'Evidence' for how, and in what order, the site was excavated. As such the stratigraphic matrix is the key mechanism that enables anyone less familiar with the site, to re-visit the excavation records, understand what data is most relevant for any particular research questions, or problems encountered, and piece together the underlying details of how the interpretations by the excavator(s) were actually arrived at. However, such records are often only held on paper or scanned copies of matrix diagrams that cannot easily be re-used with associated data. Often the key phasing data needed for synthesis work and interpretive understanding is not well documented or archived consistently, if at all, in written reports. This results in key records being unsearchable or remaining unconnected to other data and at best usually requires lengthy and wasteful re-keying if any one wishes to work with the archives from such sites. The focus of digital archives and museums is now switching from simply providing better access to digital archives, to questions of how are users in commercial units, curatorial organizations and academia, along with the general public, going to make best use of this growing body of digital information and data.

The English Heritage Trust (EHT) cares for the National Heritage Collection of 400 historic sites and 3/4 million associated artefacts. The Facility The heritage science and conservation facility at Ranger's House acts as a central hub for core research and conservation activities carried out by EHT. The facility itself comprises five rooms in the apartment adjacent to the publicly accessible house (home to the Wernher Collection), the fine art conservation studio, and an outbuilding used as a store. The facility has grown organically and has reached a point where the scale of work outstrips the capacity of the facility - both due to space and the quality of equipment within. The Beneficiaries - People and Collections The English Heritage Conservation Science team has been leading the way in research on the environmental response of objects in historic environments. This work has been critical in allowing for the safe display and storage of the collection in historic buildings. Its novelty lies in the combination of close object/ building examination and analysis, with an epidemiological approach. We have been able to develop this novel approach because we look after similar objects that are exposed to a range of very different environments. The practical methods we have devised as a result of our research have enabled us to reduce the carbon footprint of conservation activities by 40%. The sector's interest in this work is demonstrated by an impressive 70 publications in competitive forums, the oversubscription to a series of 8 international courses covering management of showcases and an invitation to the 2018 Gordon conference on Scientific Methods in Cultural Heritage Research. We have also supported six PhDs - looking at response of lined canvas paintings, archaeological bone, archaeological glass and outdoor artillery - through the CPD scheme, SEAHA doctoral training scheme, AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Program and the Science and Heritage Programme. This research would not be possible without the Ranger's facility and its equipment, but it has been severely restrained by lack of space and outdated equipment - with constant failures or issues with software compatibility. The conservation studio at Ranger's House, often guided by scientific advice from the conservation science team, carries out practical treatments and technical analysis of the English Heritage collection of over 1500 easel paintings, many of international significance, and their associated frames. Technical examination advances our understanding of an artist's materials and methodology. Over the last five years our work has resulted in the reattribution of several paintings, notably to Botticelli and Titian, and much associated publicity for English Heritage has followed. Art historical findings relating to paintings by Rembrandt, Titian, Weenix and Beuckelaer have been presented at several national and international conferences and published in postprints and journals. To allow this treatment and research to continue, we need to update equipment in line with technological advances and remedy issues with the studio space, previously adapted from an old coach house The Project The amount of research needed, both within the EHT strategy and to support the sector, is not possible within the confines of the existing facility, nor with equipment more than 10 years old and suffering constant failures (and not supported by the manufacturers due to its age). We will redevelop the interiors of the facility and upgrade the store into a workshop in order to house equipment, and provide space for sample preparation and wood working for fine art conservation. We will also replace the most outdated pieces of equipment, to significantly improve the efficiency for research undertaken in the facility.

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

Many fields of study and practice share an interest in the concept of landscape, including archaeology, ecology and nature, health and well-being, tourism and the arts. However, policy makers are not always very good at working across those disciplinary boundaries, even within the shared frame of landscape. Improving cross-disciplinary working is essential if, for example, we are to develop joined-up conservation approaches that can enhance both the natural and the historic environment, understand how communities value their local heritage, or manage the processes of change that are inevitable in a landscape. The proposed Lincolnshire Wolds Landscape Network starts from the European Landscape Convention's definition of landscape as 'an area perceived by people whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors'; in other words, it has cultural, natural and aesthetic or psychological aspects. The network will explore and promote the shared conceptual space of landscape from a historic environment perspective, with an emphasis on building connections between archaeological, ecological and well-being approaches in order to deliver a range of public benefits in a significant and high-quality rural landscape that is relatively neglected in research terms. The unique chalk landscape of the Lincolnshire Wolds, which forms one of Natural England's National Character Areas (NCAs) and much of which is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), has a distinctive topography that is the legacy of episodes of glaciation. Although relatively secluded, the Wolds have a long history of human land use. Their historic value has long been recognised, with the rich archaeological resource of the area defined in the AONB's Management Plan as one of its outstanding qualities. Highlights include Neolithic and Bronze Age barrows, cropmarks of Romano-British settlements and earthwork remains of deserted medieval villages (DMVs). However, this resource remains poorly understood. Compared to other chalk landscapes there has been little research funding for investigative work, which has been sporadic and focused on specific locations or types of monument. While enough has been done to recognise the huge potential of the Wolds' heritage, the expansion of knowledge has not matched that seen for other areas, and we do not yet have a coherent picture of human settlement and land-use over the long term. There is great willingness among local stakeholders to do more work. The network aims to bring together existing knowledge of the historic environment, identify gaps and develop a strategy to address them. Most significantly, it will go on to explore how better understanding of past land-use and environments can inform decision-making about the present landscape. How can we improve consideration of cultural heritage in conservation initiatives, such as ensuring flood management is sensitive to the history of the landscape? And enhance the well-being of local communities and visitors to the Wolds, e.g. ensuring better provision of access to the kinds of heritage which have value to different groups? The key outcomes of the network will be practical strategies for addressing such questions, which will frame the co-creation of an innovative and focused Wolds landscape project. Crucially, the network will include national policy-makers and international colleagues as well as local organisations, to ensure that methods developed during the project will be applicable to other rural areas across England and beyond. The network will convene at two meetings, with preparatory work and reporting undertaken in each case, and hold informal discussions throughout the period of operation. Meeting 1 will be a one-day seminar focused on understanding the historic environment, while meeting 2 will be a two-day landscape forum, integrating archaeological understanding with the cross-disciplinary themes.