Opening Doors: Learning in the Historic Environment

Section E · Changing approaches to learning

E 9 · Involving the public in conservation and restoration

One of the key advances in recent interpretation of historic sites is the realisation that what the public find most fascinating and instructive involves two associated processes. Firstly, the conservation (making good a structure without adding new elements) or restoration (working to restore a building to its original appearance) of a built structure or an archaeological site. Secondly, the process of caring for and looking after such a place: building maintenance, housekeeping and cleaning, the plumbing system or the care of gardens, parks and farmland. In various properties this interest in how places are conserved, and then looked after, has recently been recognised by those in charge. This is a new and positive development.

Restoration v. completion

Restoration tends to be more interesting than completion. This was the case at Dragon Hall, a medieval building in Norwich. When this building was excavated, the public was fascinated by the process which they were invited to observe. Once the work had been completed, however, the Hall became much less appealing. It had somehow ceased to live or engage the critical abilities and imagination of observers.

Changing approaches

Asimilar experience has been achieved in the restoration of several National Trust properties. In the past, a newly-acquired house would be presented to the public by the National Trust as a fait accompli, with all the work of restoration and reorganisation tidily completed out of sight.

This approach is gradually changing. Thus at Uppark in West Sussex, a building badly damaged in a huge fire in 1989, a compromise was achieved: the public was given the chance to study the work of restoration while it was taking place, through an exhibition rather than in the building itself. At Petworth House, also in West Sussex, the recent work on the reshaping of the Carved Room with its Grinling Gibbons carvings, was carried out in full view of the public, arousing a great deal of interest. The process is being carried further at Tyntesfield in Somerset, a Victorian house recently acquired by the National Trust. There, the Trust is extending the process of restoration and conservation over several years, inviting the public to observe and to comment on the process.

One of the great appeals for visitors is the chance to meet the people involved in the process of conservation or restoration of a building, or the people who look after gardens. This process of interaction may be time-consuming for members of staff, but the impact is considerable.

St Fagans

At St Fagans, the Museum of Welsh Life close to Cardiff, the conservation of historic buildings provides an exemplar for people all over Wales. In October 2003 the first Heritage Information Skills Fair was held at St Fagans. Over 40 companies and craftspeople were invited to provide demonstrations, talks and tours for owners of buildings, FE students and school children. The Fair was preceded by the Carpenters’ Fellowship’s annual outdoor conference, which promotes and researches timber framing using traditional joints and pegs.

Further examples involving the care of collections come from museums. The Darwin Centre at the Natural History Museum in London, a quite different institution, houses an innovative programme which presents the scientific work of the Museum to the public through tours of the stored collections and through experiments and public lectures by the museum’s large scientific community. Following some resistance, the Museum’s 600 research scientists have, by and large, come to find this a rewarding experience. At the National Gallery in London, twelve- to fourteen-year old schoolchildren from special needs schools have been given the chance to meet curators and to hear what it is that curators do, why pictures are hung as they are, what conservation problems arise and so forth. The energy and curiosity of the classes have astonished the curators involved.

Growing Space at Tredegar House

A very successful programme started in 1992 at Tredegar House in Newport, South Wales provides the opportunity for those with mental health problems to work and develop practical and social skills working in a team in the garden. Results have proved truly beneficial in many ways and the experience leads those involved to training for NVQ in horticulture, as well as work placement.