Selected Heritage Inventory for Natural England (SHINE) is an on-line system for ensuring that high quality historic environment advice is included in Entry and Higher Level Stewardship agri-environment schemes.

Following an initial consultation and options appraisal carried out by Exegesis for Historic England, we developed a system that went beyond initial expectations. First the system manages the baseline SHINE dataset, determining which sites are eligible for management. The SHINE data is created and maintained by the regional/local Historic Environment Records, who can update the dataset for their geographical area at any time. A strict rule checker ensures that all SHINE data is fit for purpose on uploading. The system also includes various statutory designations from Historic England.

Then the website manages the workflow of consultations with Historic Environment Records (HERs) to deliver asset inventories to farmers and land managers, and to include mandatory Farm Environment Plan HER Responses during the HLS application process. The website manages several thousand consultations each year.

Since its launch in 2014, the SHINE system has been updated on an annual basis. It continues to play a pivotal role in ensuring that the historic environment is considered in agri-environment scheme applications.

Further information from Crispin Flower.