We’re Making our Site Database Available under an Open Government Licence
Wales’s cultural and built heritage belongs to everyone in Wales. That is why we at the Royal Commission constantly strive to make information about that rich heritage as accessible as possible to everyone. As part of these efforts, we are making the National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW) site database available to all under an Open Government Licence and making it easier for you to access and download our data.
The National Monuments Record of Wales site database contains information about over 120,000 sites of archaeological, architectural, and historic significance throughout Wales and the surrounding waters. It is the authoritative record of Wales’s rich built heritage and historic environment, forming part of one of Wales’s three national collections. Its maintenance is integral to our mission, as set out in our Royal Warrant, to record monuments and structures ‘connected with, or illustrative of, the contemporary culture, civilisation and conditions of the life of the people in Wales from the earliest times’.
Since its launch in 2004, this site database has been fully available and searchable through the website Coflein, which was recently revamped and relaunched in 2021. Also in 2021, the Historic Wales portal, which allows users to search the databases of the NMRW, Cadw Listed Buildings and Scheduled Ancient Monuments Records, and the Archaeological Trusts’ Historic Environment Records simultaneously, was revamped. This new version allows users to not only search the NMRW, but also to download copies of the data. The maritime data from the NMRW has been available for some time from the Welsh Government portal DataMap Wales (formerly Lle Cymru), and we are currently in the process of making the rest of the basic site data available there too. If you would like us to provide you with a bespoke dataset that includes the description field where available, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Please note, a processing fee will apply for this service.
So, what does making this data available under an Open Government Licence mean? It means you are free to copy, download or transmit the data and adapt it for your own uses, including combining it with other data, both non-commercially and commercially. But please remember that if you do so, you must always acknowledge the source of the data, and should, where possible, link to a copy of the Open Government Licence, available here.
We are excited about this next step in making information about Wales’s fascinating and diverse historic environment available to everyone in Wales and beyond. And remember, if you have any questions or need any assistance in accessing information in the National Monuments Record of Wales, our Enquiries Team is always happy to help.
The Library and Enquiries Team
08/06/2023