pmsa national recording project introdction

National Recording Project

The National Recording Project (NRP) was set up in 1997 with the aim of making a survey of public monuments and sculpture in Britain ranging from Eleanor Crosses to the most contemporary works. With the help of a substantial grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund as well as many other donations from others such as the Henry Moore Foundation, Pilgrim Trust, Regional Arts Boards and charitable foundations., the project spent five years collecting a wealth of information, which was entered on the NRP database. The undertaking is part conservation, part archival, with roots in local and social as well as art history.

Most recently, a three-year grant from English Heritage's National Capacity Building Programme has contributed towards completion of the geographical map, promotion of the existing database and a fund-raising programme for further development and maintenance to the database and website.

The country is divided into Regional Archive Centres (RACs), mostly run from academic institutions. Each is responsible for the survey and digitised record of its local area, the information from which is then to be conveyed to the National Archive Centre (NAC) for collation, storage and dissemination in digital form. Each RAC is also invited to do further in-depth research and to contribute to the series of volumes 'Public Sculpture of Britain'. Publication cannot necessarily be guaranteed however. These volumes are published by the Liverpool University Press (see 'Publications' page). As well as those represented on the NRP Database, there are several other active Regional Archive Centres including West Yorkshire (at the University of Leeds), Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire (at the University of Derby) and Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire (at the University of Reading). Solo surveys are under way in Cumbria and Lancashire and in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

The NRP Online Database

The database is a unique collection containing more than 9,300 entries of public monuments and sculptures, many accompanied by an image.. Some fifteen Regional Archive Centres - covering roughly two-thirds of the country - collected core data about works in their area, their provenance, background and current condition, often supported by a photographic record. The database is an excellent resource for students & researchers, conservators, local historians, art buffs, enthusiasts, genealogists and all who want to know more about public sculpture: statues / obelisks / columns / sculptures / installations / fountains, follies, commemorative clocks, wayside markers, towers – from the Stuart era to the present day.

The database contains data from the following areas:

Bristol and S.W. England including Bournemouth, Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire and Swindon
East London, including Greater London
Edinburgh, including the Lothians
Manchester, including Greater Manchester
North-East England, including the Cleveland area, Durham County, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear
Somerset and Wiltshire
Western Central Counties, including Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire
Central London, including the Greater London Boroughs
East Midlands, including Leicestershire and Rutland
Glasgow
Merseyside and Cheshire
Nottinghamshire
Wales, including Anglesey, Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Newport, Pembrokeshire, Powys, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Swansea, Vale of Glamorgan, Torfaen and Wrexham

To go to the NRP Online Database CLICK HERE

Grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund have recently allowed two Regional Archive Centres to establish online databases for their area. These are:

Norfolk and Suffolk - the database can be found at: www.racns.co.uk

Sussex - the database can be found at: www.publicsculpturesofsussex.co.uk

The Sheffield and South Yorkshire RAC also have their data on a dedicated site: http://public-art.shu.ac.uk/

Funds are currently being sought to embark upon a major redesign and development of the National Database which will allow for further migration of data from other Regional Archive Centres and provide improved search facilities.

Ways in which you can participate

In addition to all the researchers and other academic staff members working on the NRP, we have been ably assisted by a range of volunteers including students, retired people with time to spare, staff in local government and libraries and other interested members of the public. The National Recording Project needs your help! If you know about local sculpture, have information on artists, or are a practising sculptor / artist yourself, then please take a moment to contact us. If you would like to take part in a more structured manner, such as in a work placement or voluntary capacity, then we would also like to hear from you.

Please e-mail us at pmsa@btconnect.com

Institutions currently collaborating, or that have collaborated with us, on the National Recording Project

Courtauld Institute of Art, London
Edinburgh College of Art
Glasgow School of Art
Hampshire Sculpture Trust (supported by Hampshire County Council)
John Moore's University, Liverpool
Kingston University
Manchester Metropolitan University
Nottingham Trent University
Polygon Design, Bristol
Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield
University of Brighton
University of Central England, Birmingham
University of East Anglia
University of East London
University of Hull
University of Leeds
University of Leicester
University of Liverpool
University of Northumbria at Newcastle upon Tyne
University of Reading
National Museums and Galleries of Wales, Cardiff
University of Wales (Aberystwyth)
University of the West of England, Bristol

The NRP is probably unique in academic circles for the number of British institutions involved.

NRP advisers or consultants include:

English Heritage
National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside
The UK National Inventory of War Memorials
The War Memorials Trust

For further information about the National Recording Project, please download an information sheet by clicking here