When the historian David Starkey opens an exhibition with the words: “What most people don’t realise is that Canterbury is one of the most important places on God’s earth,” you know are off to a flying start.
The exhibition was Canterbury: England’s Crucible – 1,000 years of the city’s history from St Augustine to the Tudors. It was a £45,000 Heritage Lottery Fund project at Canterbury Christ Church University’s Sidney Cooper Gallery – a partnership between the university’s history department and Canterbury Archaeological Trust.
The idea was to create some advocacy for the city and explain simply how it came to be a World Heritage Site. A bonus was that it created interest in local history and added strength to the local campaign against museum closures.
The exhibition was aimed at schools and a family audience but designed to appeal to all comers: 20 story panels, artefacts spanning the period, costumes, metal detector finds and a scale model of the pre-reformation city in AD1500 with its two large monasteries, plethora of friaries and 22 parish churches.
There was a six-minute documentary film, a book of the exhibition and a website with a quiz and interactives for children. A free city trail/map was given out to each visitor.
The exhibition attracted more than 5,000 visitors in 36 days. It included two free public lectures as well as a free university study day. There was also a schools programme. The exhibition was evaluated using a visitor comments book and by interviews with visitors. Two comments stood out: “This exhibition needs a permanent home,” and “I didn’t know there was a museum down this end of the High Street.”
Both of these comments were very encouraging. They showed that visitors not only appreciated the exhibition but that they wanted more. It appears that there is a strong interest in local history – it seems to be in our DNA. While Canterbury as a subject is a gift because of its many and varied stories, the planning methodology and curatorial aspiration of this show is eminently transferable.
Importantly, this exhibition took place at a time when two out of the four city council-run museums face a threat of closure (see link below). It demonstrated that the interest in local history is real.
A week after the exhibition’s launch, there was a public rally outside the Roman Museum in protest at the proposed cuts. This was bolstered by Starkey’s comments. It appears that the public’s love of their own local history is non- negotiable.
Michael Butler is the arts director at Canterbury Christ Church University
The exhibition was Canterbury: England’s Crucible – 1,000 years of the city’s history from St Augustine to the Tudors. It was a £45,000 Heritage Lottery Fund project at Canterbury Christ Church University’s Sidney Cooper Gallery – a partnership between the university’s history department and Canterbury Archaeological Trust.
The idea was to create some advocacy for the city and explain simply how it came to be a World Heritage Site. A bonus was that it created interest in local history and added strength to the local campaign against museum closures.
The exhibition was aimed at schools and a family audience but designed to appeal to all comers: 20 story panels, artefacts spanning the period, costumes, metal detector finds and a scale model of the pre-reformation city in AD1500 with its two large monasteries, plethora of friaries and 22 parish churches.
There was a six-minute documentary film, a book of the exhibition and a website with a quiz and interactives for children. A free city trail/map was given out to each visitor.
The exhibition attracted more than 5,000 visitors in 36 days. It included two free public lectures as well as a free university study day. There was also a schools programme. The exhibition was evaluated using a visitor comments book and by interviews with visitors. Two comments stood out: “This exhibition needs a permanent home,” and “I didn’t know there was a museum down this end of the High Street.”
Both of these comments were very encouraging. They showed that visitors not only appreciated the exhibition but that they wanted more. It appears that there is a strong interest in local history – it seems to be in our DNA. While Canterbury as a subject is a gift because of its many and varied stories, the planning methodology and curatorial aspiration of this show is eminently transferable.
Importantly, this exhibition took place at a time when two out of the four city council-run museums face a threat of closure (see link below). It demonstrated that the interest in local history is real.
A week after the exhibition’s launch, there was a public rally outside the Roman Museum in protest at the proposed cuts. This was bolstered by Starkey’s comments. It appears that the public’s love of their own local history is non- negotiable.
Michael Butler is the arts director at Canterbury Christ Church University
For more information on the Museums Association’s ...Love Museums campaign see www.museumsassociation.org/lovemuseums
