Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Mapping Project

The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Mapping Project is a project that has been carried out over 12 years, with the aim to enhance our understanding about past human settlement, by providing information and syntheses for all archaeological sites and landscapes that are visible on aerial photographs. 

To achieve this, all archaeological sites identified on aerial photography in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly were mapped and interpreted to a consistent standard, and the resulting information was incorporated into the county Historic Environment Record and National Monument Record databases.

More than 50,000 aerial photographs were consulted during the project. These photographs are housed in three main collections: at the National Monuments Record Centre, Cornwall Council, and Cambridge University. 

The archaeological scope of the project, in line with NMP projects nationally, included all archaeological features from the Neolithic to 1945 visible on aerial photographs. The general sphere of interest of the project can be summarised as follows:
- All visible archaeological features (including probable and possible features), dating from the Neolithic to the twentieth century (pre-1946), were recorded.
- This includes both plough-levelled sites and those with upstanding remains, regardless of whether they had been previously surveyed.
- Previously surveyed sites (those, for instance, appearing on OS maps) which have not been photographed or which are completely obscured by vegetation were not recorded. 
- Features still in use or fossilised by later structures that are still in use (e.g. buildings, field hedges, canals and railways) were not recorded. 

Over the course of its 12 year lifetime the project has produced a huge amount of data. This, in tandem with technological developments during this time, has completely transformed not only the amount of available information about Cornwall's archaeology visible on aerial photographs, but also the way in which it can be accessed.

As a result of the project, coupled with the use of GIS, whole historic and prehistoric landscapes have been mapped and can be viewed in their entirety.

Roughly 30,000 archaeological features were mapped and recorded in the project Morph2 database. More than 24,000 monument records in the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Record (HER) were either created or enhanced by data from the project. Seventy five percent of the sites identified during the project are new to the HER and 85% are new to the National Monuments Record.

Accuracy of Content:
The level of detail and the accuracy of the information held on each site reflects the nature or content of the sources used to compile the record. It has been possible to verify the information 'on the ground' in only a small percentage of sites. Users of this data should consult the HER to clarify the level of reliability and/or precision that should be afforded to information derived from the Cornwall & Scilly NMP dataset.  

The Site and its Content is provided for your general information only; we do not undertake that Content will always be accurate and complete. Therefore, if you propose to do, or refrain from doing, something in reliance upon Content you find on the Site, you must check the accuracy of the relevant Content by some other means.

Tags: historical_evolution
Organization: Cornwall Council