In early November, I had the pleasure of joining an interactive development workshop for the National Trust’s new ‘Sounds in Spaces’ visitor interpretation project. The event brought together a range of humanities postgraduates, all with an interest in sound. The aim was to crowdsource ideas about the diverse ways that sound can be used at heritage sites as a creative and engaging aspect of visitor experience.
We heard first from lead curator Dr Liz Green, who introduced the project and its main research questions. She asked us to consider how and why visitor experience is primarily visual, and the ways in which the other senses might valuably be incorporated. She also discussed the idea of sound as a form of ‘intangible heritage’, and as an important element in ‘holistic curatorship’. We then heard from cultural heritage curator Dominic Chennell, who gave an introduction to his ‘Soundlands’ project, which brings international sound artists to heritage sites in Wales. He asked us to consider the potential for soundscapes to be experiential rather than didactic, perhaps making them more democratic or accessible than a traditional visual museum exhibit.
With all these discussion points in mind, we spent the second half of the session in breakout rooms to talk through the research questions, and produce a collaborative document of ideas. It proved fascinating to hear everybody’s perspectives from across the humanities: one participant told us that fir trees are particularly effective at muffling noise pollution, while another suggested the idea of ‘futurescapes’ that could anticipate the sonic repercussions of climate change and urbanisation.
I was excited to hear that the National Trust is moving in this direction, as I have been thinking about sounds in spaces myself: I am a medievalist in the Cambridge English Faculty, and my work on religious pedagogy has led me to think a lot about the balance of speech and silence in monastic spaces. Consequently, I have begun working on a medieval monastic soundscape side-project. I will be combining on-site recordings of extant sounds with created sounds (such as song or speech recorded on location), and additional sounds from archives, such as the calls of birds now absent from these sites due to human impositions on the environment. It also seeks to recreate a level of monastic silence that is almost impossible to find today, that is, one without a constant background hum of technology, central heating, or a distant motorway. My intention is that these soundscapes will be used in audio-guides or sound installations around the chosen sites.
Following the Sounds in Spaces event, I was able to speak with Dr Liz Green, to discuss the feasibility of producing soundscapes for the National Trust’s monastic sites, such as Fountains Abbey and Lacock Abbey. I am also now in discussion with the Senior Buildings Historian for English Heritage, to hopefully set up a similar collaboration. I am grateful for the invaluable connections made at this event, and to the Oxford Heritage Partnerships Team for facilitating such an inspiring morning.
Rebecca Field is a Cambridge PhD student in the Faculty of English, funded by the Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Training Partnership. She graduated from Lincoln College, Oxford in 2016 with a BA in English, and then spent two years working first for the Bodleian Library and then for the National Trust before continuing her studies at Cambridge.
Find out more about the National Trust Partnership here.
Find out more about the University of Oxford Heritage Programme here.
