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Abstract
The expansion and evolution of local history over the last half century has given rise to both celebration and critical self‐reflection. This attention has been stimulated by the continued importance of local history as a popular cultural activity, in parallel with, paradoxically, a relatively recent decline in academic teaching provision in the subject. The reflection on the characteristics and role of local history has yielded searching consideration of its relationship with the pursuit of history more broadly, most especially in the academic discipline. However, little work has approached comprehending local history as being by its very nature also heritage. This paper turns to a series of essays by academic and non‐academic practitioners for a county history society’s journal over a period of 35 years, in order to shed light on the place of local history in evolving understandings of heritage as process.
Acknowledgement
This article is dedicated to Harold Fox who died in August 2007. Professor Fox was a landscape and local historian of the Centre for English Local History, University of Leicester. He was also a member as well as a former President of the Devon History Society. It was with his encouragement that this exploratory piece on the significance of heritage in local history was written.
Notes
[1] Chase, ‘Stories We Tell Them?’; Jackson, ‘Process and Synthesis’; Sheeran and Sheeran, ‘Reconstructing Local History’.
[2] For example: Deacon and Donald, ‘In Search of Community History’; Dymond, Researching and Writing History; Gorman, ‘Regional and Local History’; Hudson, ‘Regional and Local History’; Marshall, ‘A Co‐operative Local History Project’; Tiller, English Local History: An Introduction.
[3] Munby, ‘Reflections on Times Past’.
[4] Royle, ‘Local History in Context’, 178. See also: Mills, ‘Heritage and Historians’, 226; Schurer, ‘A Future for Local History’, 99.
[5] Lowenthal, The Heritage Crusade, 88–104; Samuel, Theatres of Memory, 259–73.
[6] Kidd, ‘Between Antiquary and Academic’; Matless, ‘Doing the English Village’, 27–35; Phythian‐Adams, ‘Hoskins’s England’.
[7] Munby, ‘Local History Studies’, 6–9; Serjeant, ‘Forty Years On’.
[8] Duffy, ‘Voices of Morebath’, 4; Jackson, ‘Published Parish and Community Histories’, 44–45; Mills, ‘Heritage and Historians’; Tiller, English Local History: An Introduction, 248–50.
[9] For example: Bardill, ‘Changing Perceptions’; Hudson, ‘Regional and Local History’; Lambert, ‘Making it Personal’; Scannell, ‘Local History’, 42–44; Serjeant, ‘Forty Years On’, 77–79; Tiller, ‘English Local History: The State of the Art’, 15–18.
[10] Williams, Researching Local History, 265.
[11] Jackson, ‘Published Parish and Community Histories’; Munby et al., Local History since 1945; Tiller, ‘English Local History: The State of the Art’.
[12] Stanes, ‘Editorial’; idem, ‘The Standing Conference for Devon History’; idem, ‘Twenty‐five Years of the Devon History Society’.
[13] Jackson, ‘Process and Synthesis’.
[14] Ashworth, ‘From History to Heritage’, 15–18.
[15] Ashworth and Howard, European Heritage Planning and Management, 15–88; Graham et al., A Geography of Heritage, 2–6.
[16] Edson, ‘Heritage’, 345.
[17] Ashworth and Howard, European Heritage Planning and Management, 36–37; Samuel, Theatres of Memory, 4.
[18] Kidd, ‘Between Antiquary and Academic’, 13.
[19] Youings, ‘Devon’s First Local Historians’, 5.
[20] Havinden et al., ‘W. G. Hoskins’, 4; Jackson, ‘Published Parish and Community Histories’, 43; Hoskins, Local History, 30; Marshall, ‘Some Items’, 15.
[21] Ashworth, ‘From History to Heritage’, 17.
[22] Hoskins, ‘Welcome from the President’, 1. This project is revisited in Reed, ‘Devon Worthies’.
[23] In Jackson, ‘“The Serious Historian of the Village”’, 12.
[24] For example: Carter, ‘Bathing Machines’, 18; George, ‘Thorverton Bridge’, 28; Timms, ‘The Roadford Reservoir’, 34–35.
[25] Smith, ‘Lost Churches and Chapels’; Stanes, ‘A Plaque for Ernie Bevan’; idem, ‘A Plaque for W. G. Hoskins’; idem, ‘The Fenny Bridges Memorial’.
[26] Oswald, ‘A View of Local History in Devon’, 30.
[27] Lowenthal, The Heritage Crusade, 137, 142.
[28] Ashworth, ‘From History to Heritage’, 16–17.
[29] Mills, ‘Heritage and Historians’, 227; Phythian‐Adams, ‘Hoskins’s England’.
[30] Samuel, Theatres of Memory, 158.
[31] Ashworth and Howard, European Heritage Planning and Management, 22–25.
[32] Minchinton, ‘Tasks for Devon Historians’, 9–10.
[33] P. Beacham, ‘Changing the Culture: The Heritage Protection Review’, lecture to the Annual Conference of the Devon History Society, 2004; Timms, ‘The Conservation of the Historic Environment’.
[34] Hunt, ‘Vernacular Architecture’, 19, 24.
[35] For example: Blaylock, ‘Archaeology above Ground Level’; Griffith, ‘The Devon Sites and Monuments Register’; Timms, ‘The Roadford Reservoir’.
[36] Sherlock, ‘The Local Historian’, 2, 4.
[37] Tregaskes, ‘The Restoration of the Village Cross’.
[38] Ashworth, ‘From History to Heritage’, 16.
[39] Lowenthal, The Heritage Crusade, 98.
[40] Schurer, ‘A Future for Local History’, 99.
[41] Mills, ‘Heritage and Historians’, 226.
[42] Timms, ‘Exploring Devon’s Past’, 25.
[43] Ibid., 26–27.
[44] Jackson, ‘The Changing Purpose’.
[45] Reid, ‘“That Quintessential Repository of Collective Memory”’, 48.
[46] Lowenthal, The Heritage Crusade, 80. See also Ashworth and Graham, ‘Senses of Place’; Graham et al., A Geography of Heritage, 4–6.
[47] Evans, ‘Think Continentally, Research Regionally’; Hudson, ‘Regional and Local History’; Tiller, ‘English Local History: The State of the Art’, 15–18.
[48] Jackson, ‘“The Serious Historian of the Village”’.
[49] Hoskins, ‘Welcome from the President’, 1–2. The potential of this exercise is indicated in Hey, ‘Continuity in Local and Regional Identity’.
[50] Phythian‐Adams, ‘Some Futures for Our Local Pasts’, 4–5.
[51] Stanyer, ‘Devon—Steadfast and Changing’, 2, 4. Stanyer’s proposal is taken up in Oswald, ‘Thurlestone Parish Council’.
[52] Huigen and Meijering, ‘Making Places’, 20–23.
[53] Stanes, ‘The Fenny Bridges Memorial’, 27–28.
[54] Timms, ‘Exploring Devon’s Past’, 25–26.
[55] Jackson, ‘On Local History’; idem, ‘Published Parish and Community Histories’; idem, ‘The Changing Purpose’.
[56] Chapman, ‘Axminster Mythology’; Pike, ‘The Landing of William of Orange’.
[57] Samuel, Theatres of Memory, 437–38.
[58] Williams, Researching Local History, 263.
[59] McLean, ‘Introduction’, 3.
[60] Marshall, ‘Some Items’, 14.
[61] Lowenthal, The Heritage Crusade, 168.
[62] Samuel, Theatres of Memory, 430.