"An exploration of an uncelebrated benchmark in replica 'henge' monuments to mark the tenth anniversary of Clonehenge". From cake to cucumbers, Brian Edwards looks at the history of people creating replicas of the English heritage site, whether this be a re-imagining of the original structure, or a reproduction of their current state. Edwards also touches upon an Orwellian connection to this practice.
Tag: heritage
The Missing Coins of Ilchester: An analysis of the Roman coins from the Stevens-Cox collection
Somerset has a rich history of human habitation stretching back many centuries, and indeed the Roman occupation made a considerable impact on the county. Benedict Sayers gives an insight into a collection of Roman coins discovered at Ilchester, and what they can tell us about the history of the region.
Somerset Working Memories: The ‘Home in Frome’ Oral History Project
"This article is intended as an exercise in‘reflective practice’ rather than a piece of academic writing. It describes an innovative and successful oral history project at Frome in Somerset, which resulted in the publication of a book called Working Memories, reviewed elsewhere in this edition of Regional Historian.The article covers the background to the project;the choice of sample of 90 people interviewed;the collection of photos and memorabilia; the editing of the interviews; how oral history relates to other forms of history; and some substantive and methodological conclusions that might be drawn from the project".
Heritage and Regeneration: making history at the Stokes Croft Museum
In August 2010, the Stokes Croft Museum opened: an unfunded venture, established to showcase the diversity of life in an area of Bristol renowned for its music and graffiti, but also its problems of crime, addiction and prostitution. Rose Wallis looks at this new 'single-room' heritage attraction, and how it reflects the many identities of the area.
History or just story-telling?
In 2007, local author John Payne published his own account of 'the rise and fall of a Bath company', a personal history of the city's engineering firm, Stothert and Pitt. We reviewed the book in RH18 and invited John to reflect upon the process of writing 'industrial history' or 'business history' as 'community history'. For, as he suggests here, there would seem a world of difference between most academic accounts of commercial change, and the sort of approaches taken to the subject by people for whom working for the firm had been formative. What is the relative value, he wonders, of personal histories of the workplace?
In search of an ‘England’s past for everyone’ in Ilfracombe, Devon: a digital history and heritage project
By Andrew Jackson Issue 17, Summer, 2007 pp.32-34. Andrew Jackson looks at some of the work of the Victoria County History (VCH), and their project in Ifracombe in north Devon. The group launched the ‘Devon’s History and Heritage’ project 100 years after the Devon volume of the VCH was first published. The new project explored different ways to approach Devon’s history by utilising image analysis and oral history. 17… Continue reading In search of an ‘England’s past for everyone’ in Ilfracombe, Devon: a digital history and heritage project
Speaking in the Vernacular: History and Academic Video
In 1966, the collieries of the Somerset Coalfield were declared unprofitable and closed. The closure resulted in the loss of nearly four-hundred jobs and left a void in the community that had been built around the mining industry. The Radstock museum of the Somerset Coalfield created a Video Archive which took the form of a compilation of memories from the elderly Somerset mining community. Following its success, Tim Bateman makes a case for academic videos as a medium for presenting history. Bateman reimagines the potential for video history outside the parameters of television and film entertainment.
Learning to live with ‘natural wonders’: the forgotten history of Cheddar Gorge
A soldier’s letters
In this article, Williamson describes the process of tracking down the descendants of Stanley Charles Booker in modern day Bristol, a process stemming from a project given to pupils at his school. It covers many of the important processes embarked upon to discover family heritage, especially if technology proves to be unhelpful.
Changing Avebury
In this article, Brian Edwards follow the heritage timeline of Avebury, as well as incorporate the efforts of the heritage authorities to cash in and further popularise the history of Stonehenge and the surrounding area. The timeline stems from John Aubrey introducing Charles II to Avebury in 1663, to the impact that the Five Mile Act had on the surrounding environment.