The Victoria County History hosted a conference in Bristol earlier this month to mark the conclusion of its Heritage Lottery-funded project, England’s Past for Everyone.

 

‘Is England’s Past for Everyone? Learning and Outreach in the Historic Environment’ was held at Armada House, a Grade II-listed Edwardian building in the centre of the city, and was attended by delegates from a wide range of organisations including local authorities, universities, Heritage Lottery Fund, English Heritage, National Trust and the Council for British Archaeology.

 

The two-day event included presentations, panels and a series of workshops and provided an opportunity for delegates to share best practise and lessons learnt with heritage colleagues from across the country.

 

Chaired by Don Henson, Head of Education, CBA, day one opened with a keynote speech from Baroness Kay Andrews, Chair of English Heritage. Baroness Andrews asked delegates to consider the barriers to the idea that England’s past is for everyone and how individuals and organisations can work to overcome these. EPE Project Manager Catherine Cavanagh, then provided an overview of the EPE project and was followed by a panel session on new and traditional approaches to local history publishing, chaired by Noel Osborne, Phillimore & Co. Ltd.

 

The afternoon was opened by historian and broadcaster Michael Wood, who treated the audience to a preview of his new television project, involving the community of a Leicestershire village in an archaeological study of their local area. This was followed by presentations from Simon Townley, Team Leader, VCH Oxfordshire, and Justin Champion, Professor of History and Head of Department, Royal Holloway. The session considered how the media and the web can help bring history to new audiences. The afternoon concluded with a presentation from Hilary Jones and Catherine McHarg, English Heritage, who spoke about education initiatives at EH, in particular the Heritage Explorer website, a resource for teachers and pupils.

 

Day two was chaired by Simon Townley, with the opening keynote speech provided by Lucy Worsley, Chief Curator, Historic Royal Palaces. Lucy spoke about the work of HRP, with particular focus on their recent efforts to bring new audiences to Hampton Court. The panel session was chaired by Robert Gent, Assistant Director of Cultural and Community Services, Derbyshire County Council, and considered partnership and funding opportunities in the heritage sector. The afternoon session included an overview of various community projects currently taking place, including presentations from Coventry and Bristol City Councils, Oxfordshire Buildings Record, London Transport Museum, CBA and the Exmoor National Park Authority.  

 

Delegates also had the opportunity to take part in three workshops. The first with Aretha George, Heritage Lottery Fund, provided case studies and advice on setting up and running successful volunteer projects.  The second, with EPE Historic Environment Research Manager Matthew Bristow, provided an introduction to the visual sources available when studying the historic environment. Finally, author of the Pevsner City Guide to Bristol, Andrew Foyle, provided a very interesting tour of the architecture along the original Anglo-Saxon boundaries of the city.

 

A small exhibition was also held, with stalls provided by BALH, English Heritage and National Monuments Record, Bristol City Council and Hobnob Press. Publishers of the EPE series, Phillimore & Co. Ltd (www.phillimore.co.uk) were also in attendance and did a brisk trade in EPE paperbacks and other local history titles.

 

The England’s Past for Everyone project will conclude in the spring of 2010. The key outputs of the project include a series of 15 paperback books, an interactive website (www.ExploreEnglandsPast.org.uk) and teaching resources developed from school projects and available from the Schools Learning Zone (www.EnglandsPastforEveryone.org.uk/schools). Victoria County History is now developing new ways of working with local communities based on the findings of its EPE project, and will be taking on Baroness Andrew's challenge to consider how best to ensure England's Past IS for Everyone. It is hoped that the thought-provoking discussions about inclusive ways to present the past will continue.

 

 

   A full report of the conference, including images and presentations, can be found on the EPE website www.EnglandsPastforEveryone.org.uk/conference