The feature on historic houses addressed many of the significant issues relating to their interpretation and access (Museums Journal May 2006, p26). But much of the discussion concerned historic houses not as living places, but more as artefacts.
It focused on properties where families once lived, played and worked, friends and relatives visited and anniversaries were celebrated, but where such things no longer happen. This lack of a sense of 'lived-iness' emerged as a potential barrier.
It was suggested, for instance, that the success of one particular house in attracting visitors was due to its having a working kitchen. This made the house come alive. Visitors responded 'because it feels like a living and breathing home'.
For many of the 1,500 or so properties that are members of the Historic Houses Association (HHA), the challenge they face is quite the opposite. The majority continue to be lived in as family homes.
Providing opportunities for access and learning often has to be matched to the demands of family and domestic life. Nevertheless, more than 350 member houses and gardens open regularly to the public, and a further 300 open occasionally. A number have well-established learning programmes, and more are developing them.
HHA properties are diverse. They range from large palaces and castles to small houses and estates. For many, size alone precludes the possibility of receiving large numbers of visitors. Additionally, owners who wish to improve interpretation or introduce educational activities need to have access to the relevant resources, expertise and experience.
Often historic houses in private ownership face similar challenges to those in the care of English Heritage or the National Trust. A common concern is how best to reach out to a wider range of audiences, especially communities that traditionally have not engaged with this part of our historic environment.
But matters of occupation, location, size, usage, staffing, management and perception mean that HHA members also frequently have to tackle difficulties peculiar to them. And it was with these more specific considerations in mind that the HHA launched its learning advisory service in April this year.
This was the most recent step in an access and learning programme that began in 2001. During the past five years, the association has worked to expand its learning and outreach work in partnership with the Black Environment Network and English Heritage, and with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The new learning advisory service is designed to provide tailored advice and guidance to houses wishing to explore their educational potential or to develop what they are already doing. An important element lies in helping house owners, staff and volunteers to further their own knowledge and understanding of heritage-related learning and the skills required to deliver it effectively.
Although emphasis has been placed on learning and interpretation since 2001, the HHA is not entering pastures new. Any perception, for instance, that private historic houses have been unduly slow to engage with education would be misplaced.
While there may often be difficulties and problems - such as limited funding and the need to generate income - historically, HHA members have been keen to develop their homes as places for learning.
Nearly 30 years ago prominent members of the HHA put forward proposals for a Heritage Education Year and for the Sandford Award scheme to reward excellence in the provision of education related to a historic property. And, in 1982, the then president of the HHA initiated the foundation of the Heritage Education Trust that continues to administer the Sandford Awards.
The new advisory service is part of this tradition. It builds on the experience of a year-long project run jointly in 2004 by the HHA and English Heritage. This was to develop and manage 12 pilot educational projects, out of the 41 properties that expressed an interest.
The pilot projects included provision for those in formal education - teachers, tutors, primary school pupils and students on vocational courses - but also looked at developing family-friendly provision, physical and intellectual access and staff development.
For several of the properties involved, the key question was either how do we get started on making provision for learning or, how can we inject new life into our approach to education?
A number of the projects were not about taking the first steps, but about re-visiting first principles. They included developing a learning policy, establishing links with local schools and teachers, putting together a handling collection and creating an interactive website.
Returning to the Museums Journal debate, some of the key messages were: make the most of the particular opportunities a house presents; get people involved; establish long term connections; make historic houses places of interaction and learning; and seek to transform lives.
I have an image of a group sitting around the kitchen table in what was originally a medieval hall house on a site where there had been human activity for possibly 10,000 years. We were looking at flint tools from the Mesolithic period and discussing with the owner why people had inhabited the site for so long. As a transforming interaction it would be hard to better.
It is unique opportunities of this kind that historic houses represented by the membership of the HHA are so well placed to offer.
John Hamer is a learning adviser to the Historic Houses Association
Details of the HHA's learning advisory service can be downloaded at
http://educationandaccess.hha.org.uk/learningadvisoryservice
It focused on properties where families once lived, played and worked, friends and relatives visited and anniversaries were celebrated, but where such things no longer happen. This lack of a sense of 'lived-iness' emerged as a potential barrier.
It was suggested, for instance, that the success of one particular house in attracting visitors was due to its having a working kitchen. This made the house come alive. Visitors responded 'because it feels like a living and breathing home'.
For many of the 1,500 or so properties that are members of the Historic Houses Association (HHA), the challenge they face is quite the opposite. The majority continue to be lived in as family homes.
Providing opportunities for access and learning often has to be matched to the demands of family and domestic life. Nevertheless, more than 350 member houses and gardens open regularly to the public, and a further 300 open occasionally. A number have well-established learning programmes, and more are developing them.
HHA properties are diverse. They range from large palaces and castles to small houses and estates. For many, size alone precludes the possibility of receiving large numbers of visitors. Additionally, owners who wish to improve interpretation or introduce educational activities need to have access to the relevant resources, expertise and experience.
Often historic houses in private ownership face similar challenges to those in the care of English Heritage or the National Trust. A common concern is how best to reach out to a wider range of audiences, especially communities that traditionally have not engaged with this part of our historic environment.
But matters of occupation, location, size, usage, staffing, management and perception mean that HHA members also frequently have to tackle difficulties peculiar to them. And it was with these more specific considerations in mind that the HHA launched its learning advisory service in April this year.
This was the most recent step in an access and learning programme that began in 2001. During the past five years, the association has worked to expand its learning and outreach work in partnership with the Black Environment Network and English Heritage, and with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The new learning advisory service is designed to provide tailored advice and guidance to houses wishing to explore their educational potential or to develop what they are already doing. An important element lies in helping house owners, staff and volunteers to further their own knowledge and understanding of heritage-related learning and the skills required to deliver it effectively.
Although emphasis has been placed on learning and interpretation since 2001, the HHA is not entering pastures new. Any perception, for instance, that private historic houses have been unduly slow to engage with education would be misplaced.
While there may often be difficulties and problems - such as limited funding and the need to generate income - historically, HHA members have been keen to develop their homes as places for learning.
Nearly 30 years ago prominent members of the HHA put forward proposals for a Heritage Education Year and for the Sandford Award scheme to reward excellence in the provision of education related to a historic property. And, in 1982, the then president of the HHA initiated the foundation of the Heritage Education Trust that continues to administer the Sandford Awards.
The new advisory service is part of this tradition. It builds on the experience of a year-long project run jointly in 2004 by the HHA and English Heritage. This was to develop and manage 12 pilot educational projects, out of the 41 properties that expressed an interest.
The pilot projects included provision for those in formal education - teachers, tutors, primary school pupils and students on vocational courses - but also looked at developing family-friendly provision, physical and intellectual access and staff development.
For several of the properties involved, the key question was either how do we get started on making provision for learning or, how can we inject new life into our approach to education?
A number of the projects were not about taking the first steps, but about re-visiting first principles. They included developing a learning policy, establishing links with local schools and teachers, putting together a handling collection and creating an interactive website.
Returning to the Museums Journal debate, some of the key messages were: make the most of the particular opportunities a house presents; get people involved; establish long term connections; make historic houses places of interaction and learning; and seek to transform lives.
I have an image of a group sitting around the kitchen table in what was originally a medieval hall house on a site where there had been human activity for possibly 10,000 years. We were looking at flint tools from the Mesolithic period and discussing with the owner why people had inhabited the site for so long. As a transforming interaction it would be hard to better.
It is unique opportunities of this kind that historic houses represented by the membership of the HHA are so well placed to offer.
John Hamer is a learning adviser to the Historic Houses Association
Details of the HHA's learning advisory service can be downloaded at
http://educationandaccess.hha.org.uk/learningadvisoryservice
