Delving into History
Written by: Greensand Country Team
The Delving into History project ran a series of annual conferences that aimed to network specialists in all areas of the heritage field, along with interested volunteers and members of the public. They aimed to highlight the unique heritage of Greensand Country.
Achievements
The project provided a platform for local and national experts to share their knowledge, which helped to directly inform future project delivery. Two conferences were held, the first on ‘Woodland Archaeology’ and the second on ‘Monastic Heritage’.
Benefits to People
The conferences were an ideal networking event, particularly to link local community initiatives with larger national organisations in the heritage sector. Indirectly, a greater awareness of Greensand Country heritage will inform interpretation and education at individual partner sites.
Benefits to Heritage & Landscape
Heritage was better understood as these conferences allowed partner organisations and volunteers to better understand the unique heritage of Greensand Country. This was particularly important for those organisations that did not have an overtly heritage focus, giving much more context for their focus on biodiversity or access.
This project was largely focused on heritage, so the benefits to the landscape were primarily about greater understanding of the contribution of the history of the Greensand Ridge to its present character. In particular, greater awareness of the monastic heritage and how it has led to the area’s density of historic parkland.
Challenges & Lessons Learnt
The main challenge was how a conference could be run during the 2020 covid pandemic. Unfortunately, the skillset and time to reorganise a third conference wasn’t available, which meant that the momentum couldn’t be continued.
The importance of getting a variety of speakers from different perspectives to maximize interest in the conference.