Arches UK Interest Group
Group Summary
The Arches UK Interest Group consists primarily of UK-based heritage organizations, service providers and developers, seeking to share knowledge, discuss developments and potentially collaborate on mutually beneficial Arches software development and implementations.
Note: the name of this community group changed from “Arches UK User Group” to “Arches UK Interest Group” in November 2025 to better reflect the diversity of participant expertise, experience and roles.
Primary Contact
Contact Group Chair, Stuart Cakebread (stuart.cakebread@historicengland.org.uk), with questions.
Receive updates about the group and meeting reminders here: Arches UK Interest Group E-Mail List Sign-Up form.
Meeting Dates
This interest group meets every two months on the last Thursday of the month at 12pm GMT.
- 28 May 2026 (Remote) – Forum Post
- 26 March 2026 (Remote) – Meeting Recording
- 29 January 2026 (Remote) – Meeting Recording
- 27 November 2025 (Remote) – Meeting Recording
- 17 May 2024 (Remote) – Meeting Recording
- 28 November 2023 (Remote) – Meeting Recording
- 17 April 2023 (Remote) – Meeting Recording
- 10 June 2021 (Remote) – Meeting Recording
- 17 October 2019
- 24 June 2019
Check out the “uk-interest-group” tag on the Arches Community Forum for updates on past and upcoming Arches UK Interest Group events.
Aims
- Share knowledge about using Arches by presenting updates on various Arches UK implementations;
- Provide a space to discuss any issues relating to the use of Arches in the UK;
- Collaborate on mutually beneficial Arches software development (enhancements, customizations, and improvements) and methodologies;
- Bring developers and users together to better understand needs, limitations, and opportunities for growth;
- Make Arches more accessible to a UK audience.
Participants/Organizations and Roles
Chair: Stuart Cakebread, Greater London Historic Environment Record (GLHER); Greater London Archaeology Advisory Service (GLAAS); Historic England
Secretary: Jana Lorencova, Information Scientist, Flax & Teal Ltd.
Resources
Arches Community Forum Posts
Check out the uk-interest-group tag on the Arches Community Forum for information on the Arches UK Interest Group’s meetings.
Arches UK Interest Group Meeting (26 March 2026)
Arches UK User Group Meeting
Facilitated by Stuart Cakebread, Chair (March 26, 2026)
Arches UK Interest Group Meeting (29 January 2026)
Arches UK User Group Meeting
Facilitated by Stuart Cakebread, Chair (January 29, 2026)
00:00:00 | Introduction
Presentations:
00:03:26 | Arches Governance update (Stuart Cakebread, Historic England)
00:09:45 | Introducing Arches Lingo: Managing Cultural Heritage Terminologies [Arches Project] (Phil Carlisle, Historic England)
00:38:32 | Group Discussion & Questions
Arches UK Interest Group Meeting (27 November 2025)
Arches UK User Group Meeting
Facilitated by Stuart Cakebread, Chair (November 27, 2025)
00:00:00 | Introduction
00:00:22 | Change in group name and meeting format
Presentations:
00:02:18 | The Arches Platform and Applications, Arches v8 [Farallon Geographics] (Dennis Wuthrich)
00:31:31 | The Marine Historic Environment Record: Developing a Solution for Marine Data Management [Historic England] (Matthew Jones)
00:47:20 | Group Discussion & Questions
Arches UK User Group Meeting (10 June 2021)
Arches UK User Group Meeting
facilitated by Alastair MacIntosh, Chair and Stuart Cakebread, Vice-chair (June 10, 2021)
In-Depth Presentations:
00:00:00 | Introduction
00:03:46 | Greater London Historic Environment Record [GLHER/Keystone] (Stuart Cakebread)
00:11:23 | Jersey Historic Environment Record [Jersey HER] (Roger Hills)
00:24:52 | Isle of Man Historic Environment Record [Isle of Man HER] (Jude Dicken)
00:45:11 | Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa [EAMENA] (Michael Fischer)
00:56:46 | Maritime Endangered Archaeology [MarEA] (Crystal El Safadi)
01:04:40 | EAMENA customizations of Arches (Michael Fischer)
Quick Overviews:
01:35:40 | Endangered Wooden Architecture Programme [EWAP] Aylin Orbasli
01:37:34 | Mapping Africa’s Endangered Archaeological Sites and Monuments [MAEASaM] (Mahmoud Abdelrazek)
01:39:35 | Mapping Archaeological Heritage in South Asia [MAHSA] (Rebecca Roberts)
01:44:31 | Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales [RCAHMW] Neil Smith
01:48:21 | Central Asian Archaeological Landscapes [CAAL] (Bryan Alvey)
01:57:50 | User-Group Administration and Conclusions
–End of larger group–
02:04:32 | CIIM & Arches Integration (Reuben Osborne)
Arches UK User Group Meeting (17 April 2023)
Arches UK User Group Meeting
facilitated by Alastair MacIntosh, Chair and Stuart Cakebread, Vice-chair (April 17, 2023)
00:00:00 | Introduction
00:00:50 | Change in leadership
Presentations:
00:03:14 | Mapping Archaeology Heritage in South Asia: Data Development Workflow [MAHSA] (Azadeh Vafadari, Junaid Abdul Jabbar)
00:36:25 | An Introduction to the HED Digital Transformation Project [Historic Environment Division, Northern Ireland] (John Murphy)
00:44:00 | Work in Progress: Data Migration Collaboration [Flax & Teal] (Jana Lorencova)
00:57:20 | Work in Progress: Technical Direction of Travel [Flax & Teal] (Phil Weir)
01:22:21 | Latest Updates to Keystone [GLHER/Keystone] (Matthew Jones)
01:36:51 | Customizing Arches [Keystone/Arches for HERs] (Chantelle Smith)
01:54:03 | Web Accessibility: What Is It? Why Do We Need It? – Experience with Arches [Arches for HERs] (Paul Hudson)
Discussion:
02:23:52 | Welcoming Maggie Smith (San Francisco Planning), representative from the Arches US user group
02:35:57 | Development of the UK user group
Arches UK User Group Meeting (28 November 2023)
Arches UK User Group Meeting
facilitated by Stuart Cakebread, Chair (November 28, 2023)
0:00:00 | Introduction
Presentations:
00:01:27 | Arches QGIS Plug-in [Knowledge Integration] (Samuel Scandrett)
00:25:31 | Developing a Standardized Climate Change Hazard Vocabulary for Cultural Heritage [Institute for Sustainable Heritage/Arches for HERs] (Helen Thomas)
00:50:15 | Arches Programmable Framework (WIP): Hierarchical Permissions [Flax & Teal] (Phil Weir)
01:37:33 | Group Discussion & Questions
Arches UK User Group Meeting (17 May 2024)
Arches UK User Group Meeting
facilitated by Stuart Cakebread, Chair (May 17, 2024)
0:00:00 | Introduction
Presentations:
00:19:12 | Workflow Builder [Galvia Digital] (Taylor North)
00:23:01 | A Workflow on the Go [Galvia Digital] (Owen McEvoy)
00:45:59 | Arches QGIS Plugin (Update) [Knowledge Integration] (Samuel Scandrett)
01:20:36 | 2024 LA Developer Meetup Recap & Technical Updates (Kubernetes, ArchesORM, & GraphQL) [Flax & Teal Ltd.] (Phil Weir)
01:37:32 | Group Discussion & Questions
Last updated: February 2026