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 The archaeology, buildings and historic
landscape of South East England (East Sussex, Kent, Surrey and
West Sussex) comprise an outstanding inheritance that helps to
give the region its distinctive character and sense of
identity.
This historic environment is also a rich resource for education,
research and leisure, but what do we actually know about the
region's past, and what are the questions we want and need to
answer?
The South East Research Framework for the historic environment
is an opportunity for all those who care about the region's
heritage to take stock and plan how limited resources should be
used.
Resource Assessment
Groups of researchers are studying specific time periods as well
as more general themes relating to the human history of the South
East in order to produce a Resource Assessment. This is a statement
of our current knowledge of the archaeology and history of the
region.
The Resource Assessment will enable us to build a list of the
gaps in our current understanding, and identify research questions
and topics in order to form a Research Agenda for the future. We
will then be able to develop a Research Strategy for investigation
and interpretation of the historic environment of the South
East.
Public seminars for the Resource Assessment have now taken
place, and notes from each meeting are currently being posted
online: your comments are welcome. Resource Assessment chapters
covering various periods and themes will also be made available for
comment before publication.
Research Agenda
We are now moving well into the Research Agenda phase of the
project, building a list of those aspects of the historic
environment of the South East we would like to investigate further.
The
SERF Research Agenda Conference was held on 26 April 2008,
hosted by the University of Kent, Medway campus, Chatham, Kent.
The South East Research Framework for the historic environment
is very much a partnership of the four counties that make up the
region, involving all sectors of the archaeological community.
We are very grateful to English Heritage for their financial
support for the project. |