Heritage Attractions& the Attraction of Heritage:

a 21st Century Context

Prof David SleightDean of Public Engagement, University of Lincoln

March 1st 2013

Heritage: definitions

The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘heritage’ as:• property that is or may be inherited; an inheritance• valued things such as historic buildings that have been passed

down from previous generations• relating to things of historic or cultural value that are worthy

of preservation

Also practices of heritage: e.g.• language• culture

Heritage Industry: the academic debate

…it is not an inquiry into the past, but a celebration of it ... A profession of faith in a past tailored to present-day purposes’ (The Heritage Crusade and the Spoils of History, David Lowenthal, 1997, p. x)

John Carman (2002)… heritage is created in a process of categorising

Mitchell (2005) … heritage forms part of a canon that defines a nation

(e.g. Olympics 2012)

Creative & Heritage Industries:defining the heritage of a nation?

Concorde1976-2003

2012 Concorde in faux ‘Air Britain’ livery

Heritage Industry: the academic debate

Robert Hewison (late 1980’s) coined the phrase ‘heritage industry’ to describe what he considered to be the sanitisation and commercialisation … a middle-class nostalgia for the past?

Raphael Samuel (1994) … heritage had served to make the past more democratic (e.g. stories of ‘below-stairs’ lives)

Heritage Industry: the popular impact

In times of recession there is a increase in period drama on TV!

Re-imagine our world in relation – we compare & contrast?Safe & secure romantic view – escapism, sanitised, comfortable?

1970’s:Poldark

The Onedin LineWhen the Boat Comes In

The Forsyte SagaUpstairs Downstairs

2010’s:Downton AbbeyCall the Midwife

Mr SelfridgeThe Paradise

Upstairs Downstairs

Creative & Heritage Industries:

We know heritage is with us…!

Govn’s organising principles…

• The Creative Industries are defined by the DCMS as “those industries which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property” 2001 Creative Industries Mapping Document, DCMS

• Scope of Creative Industries: Advertising, Fashion, Textiles, Film, Television, Radio, Photo Imaging, Publishing, Animation, Interactive Media, Content for Computer Games, Software, Commercials and Promos, Corporate Production, Post Production and Visual Special Effects and Other Specialist Facilities, Craft, Cultural Heritage, Design, Literature, Music, Performing Arts and the Visual Arts, and Architecture.

Creative & Heritage Industries:

http://www.ccskills.org.uk/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=Hx1lEq5n%2bis%3d&tabid=822

Plus how it overlays with the wider Creative Industry

UK Creative Industry:•Contributes £24.8bn GVA/year•Heritage estimated at c.£14bn GVA/year•Including heritage tourism c.£7.4bn GVA/year•Tourism expected to increase in economic strength 2.6% by 2018

http://www.ccskills.org.uk/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=PSPfacc%2f4yc%3d&tabid=822

Employment Trends in UK

Table 1 – Comparison of individual economic indicators between the Creative Industries and other leading UK Industries Industry type

Employment Contribution to GVA

Aerospace - 1 1,124,000 1.7%#

Pharmaceuticals - 1 72,000 4%

Energy - 2 137,800 4.8%

EPES* & ICT - 2 1,820,000 10%

Construction - 1 1,862,000 1.8%#

Financial Services - 2 1,028,000 7.9%

Manufacturing - 2 3,000,000 12%

Creative Industries - 3 1,100,000 5.6%

1 2006; 2 2007; Source ONS and Industry Estimates. 3. DCMS Economic Estimates 2008 - Includes software and reproduction of computer media. * Electronics, Photonics and Electrical Systems # GDP

UK Aerospace Industry accounts for 6% of global marketContribution to economy is only 1.7%?Creative Industries is 5.6% (triple aerospace?)

http://www.ccskills.org.uk/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=PSPfacc%2f4yc%3d&tabid=822

http://www.ccskills.org.uk/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=PSPfacc%2f4yc%3d&tabid=822

UK Heritage Attractions

• Recession Summer 2009 – visits to Eng Heritage sites up by 17%

• National Trust visitors up by 17.5%• 423,000 people volunteer in heritage activity

(1.1% of adult population – DCMS)• 2001-2012 Eng Heritage members up 49%• 2001-2012 NT members up 25%• Plus factor in increasing population & life

expectancy

We need to know our society UK Popn mid-2009 - http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=6

UK 2009 Popn 61,792,000

•Trends:•Ageing demographic•Society is not a “flat” structure

•Bulges happen as a result of historical events

•Our work addresses the population ahead, alongside and following us..

No. Of UK DRIVERS Aged (in 2005) DVLA

76-80 844,043

81-85 453,773

86-90 121,694

91-95 21,405

96-100 1,555

101 plus 34

• Predictions that within decade 4.5m drivers will be over 70 years

• NOW over 1m drivers over 80! • DVLA = be very afraid!!!

– 1998 = 6 drivers over 100– 2013 = 133

Creative & Heritage Industries:a slice of toast and a cup of tea!

Heritage in the mid 21st Century?What happens to heritage at a time of increase in Life Expectancy?:

• People’s heritage is “the past remembered & reinterpreted”• People living longer affects the heritage industry• Increase in lifespan gives more time for reflection of lives lived• More time during/and at end of life to reminisce/catalogue/record? • Past 100 years heritage becomes poignant as we struggle to understand the journey travelled by our most senior citizens• report in yesterday’s papers children no longer ask grandparents questions about history – instead going to Google etc?

•20th Century was the most highly “mediated” in history

•Propose this will all result in more growth in heritage activity...

Creative & Heritage Industries:

Prof David SleightDean of Public EngagementUniversity of Lincoln