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Thesis Final June Thesis Towards understandings of visitor experiences and practices that shape new meanings of place at National Trust sites. Gillian Cope A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Environment and Technology, in partial fulfilment of the requirement of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy This research programme was carried out in collaboration with the National Trust December, 2014 Abstract The National Trust face a new set of challenges in recent years; as one of the most influential heritage bodies in the UK, it is responsible for the preservation and protection of a large number of diverse sites from historic buildings to woodland. Yet this is set against a backdrop of complex set of challenges: creating an active dialogue with those who visit its sites and other stakeholders, such as the local community; ensuring their sites are preserved while, at the same time, encouraging access; on-going climate change and environmental risks; changing cultural, social and economic frameworks. The aim for the National Trust is to better understand how places might be managed differently in the light of these challenges. This research builds on existing quantitative research conducted by the National Trust by examining how the engagement, embodiment and practice of visitors, staff and volunteers at National Trust sites informs a sense of place. The research employs a mixed method approach using qualitative ethnographic techniques. The methods of video and audio capture were used to explore and engage with the highly complex processes practiced at the sites and capture the non-verbal, pre cognitive and emotive ways in which people engage with site. From this insight, the research makes a conceptual contribution to knowledge by examining how site based practice informs emotional engagement and affect of place and how this experience produces a sense of place for people within National Trust sites. Traditionally, the National Trust has put the physical aspects of a site at the heart of the visitor experience, whereas my research serves to demonstrate how an individual makes sense of a place through their own experiences, memories, cultural identity and uses these lenses to understand the world and their own identity. Furthermore, the research demonstrates that places are not fixed concepts but formed in an on-going, iterative way where multiple, sometimes competing, memories, emotions and affects are produced and that a place making is messy, interwoven with multiple, sometimes competing rhythms, emotions, ii affects and how this sense of place gets carried over time and space. The contribution that this research makes, therefore, is in extending the insights into how place can change people to how people change place within the context of National Trust sites. iii Acknowledgements I have enjoyed both the content and process of this PhD enormously but the challenge of completing it has sometimes been overwhelming. The support from colleagues, friends and family has, for that reason, been invaluable. I am indebted to the people who helped me with my fieldwork – Edward and Maureen, Barbara, Sylvia, Sally, Karen – and all the volunteers, staff and visitors who talked to me about their experiences at Hidcote, Dyrham, Lacock and Woodchester. Thank you to the National Trust for sponsoring me to undertake such an interesting project and, in particular, to Tony Berry who was an enthusiastic and engaged sponsor of my work. I would like to thank my supervisors: Nigel Curry for his guidance on structure and for getting me to think analytically and Owain Jones for his creative thinking and input into the shape of my thesis. Taking over the supervision, Avril Maddrell provided extremely insightful and thoughtful feedback on my work that was instrumental in its completion and I would like to thank her for all her advice and support. To my friends and colleagues at CCRI – thank you for your support, encouragement and humour throughout my PhD. I would like to thank Karen Gallagher for her friendship and always making sure I was ‘getting on with it’! Special thanks goes to Celly (Ceris) Bergen for her proof reading and getting me out to the pub when required. I would like to thank my mother for her encouragement of my studies and for always taking an interest in my work. Special thanks goes to my sister, Jane, who gave me support, reassurance, and provided proof reading at critical times. Finally, I would like thank D’arcy, Poppy and Tiger for their love and support. iv Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................. iv Contents ................................................................................................................. v List of Figures .................................................................................................... viii Chapter 1: People and places: an introduction and outline of the thesis .......................... 1 1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Emerging approaches to people and place, space and landscape ............... 7 1.3 The National Trust moving forward: changing understandings of heritage . 14 1.4 Emerging approaches to heritage ............................................................... 17 1.5 Project rationale ........................................................................................... 21 1.6 Aims and objectives ..................................................................................... 22 1.7 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 2: A review of the literature concerning people’s engagement with place ........ 25 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 25 2.2 Aspects of Memory explored ....................................................................... 26 2.2.1 Memory as experienced through material objects ................................ 27 2.2.2 The social and spatial nature of memory .............................................. 29 2.2.3 Collective and individual memory ......................................................... 30 2.3 Rhythm ........................................................................................................ 32 2.3.1 Rhythm .................................................... 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Bookmark not defined. 2.3.2 Temporality ........................................................................................... 34 2.3.3 Rhythms of mobility ............................................................................... 36 2.4 Escape ......................................................................................................... 37 2.4.1 Escape from outside pressures ............................................................ 38 2.4.2 Escape and nostalgia ............................................................................ 39 2.4.3 Escape and place ................................................................................. 43 2.5 Connection and belonging ........................................................................... 47 2.5.1 Meanings of belonging to place ............................................................ 47 2.5.2 Meanings of belonging to people .......................................................... 49 2.5.3 Meanings of connection ........................................................................ 50 2.6 The Senses ................................................................................................. 52 2.6.1 Sight ...................................................................................................... 55 2.6.2 Vision and audiencing ........................................................................... 57 2.6.3 Sound .................................................................................................... 58 2.7 Material objects ........................................................................................... 61 2.7.1 Meaning of material objects through space and time ........................... 62 v 2.7.2 Objects and identity .............................................................................. 65 2.8 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 67 Chapter3: The methodological approach: the theory and practice ................................. 69 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 69 3.2 First step of fieldwork process – National Trust workshop .......................... 71 3.2.1 The selection of the fieldwork sites ....................................................... 72 3.2.2 Initial site contact as start of fieldwork .................................................. 77 3.3 Ethnography as a methodological approach ............................................... 82 3.4 Methods Used ............................................................................................. 86 3.4.1 Participant observation ......................................................................... 88 3.4.2 Visual methods ..................................................................................... 93 3.4.3 Interviews and the ‘practice
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