Relationship Between the Heritage Site and the Community

Relationship Between the inheritance Site and the CommunityThis essay critically discusses the relationship betwixt inheritance and community, collecting and making reference to a wide range of writing and theorizing on inheritance and its counseling.As Lowenthal (1995) argues in his book The Past is a Foreign Country, the past is an ever-changing phenomenon, which is not constant due to the way in which the past is translated to us and how we, as individuals, intepret our past, with each individual having a diverse version, a various interpretation, of a common past. The past is a heritage, which, argues Lowenthal (1995) is at once burdensome and nurturing, open as it is to various interpretations and various uses. The past is essential, and inescapable, and rear end be as innocent as ones memories as captured in photographs or can be manipulated as witnessed by the Holcaust deniers. It is this changing spirit of the past, or heritage that simultaneously sustains and constrain s us (Lowenthal, 1995). The past is, argues Lowenthal (1995), an increasingly more foreign country, that is distinct from the present but which is increasingly manipulated by present-day(prenominal) aims. It is necessary to preserve the past to avoid cultural amnesia but a cult of nostalgia can also choke and dampen progress, and so dealing with heritage is a delicate matter. Heritage and its management, in terms of community, is therefore a complex matter that generates tensions and conflicts.Chitty and Baker (1999) look at how diachronic berths and buildings argon managed and show that preservation and presentation argon central activities in the historical environment but that, lots, these activities can be antagonistic to each other. This antagonism arises because of the different economic, social, cultural and educational perspectives taken by the different bodies involved in preserving and presenting historic sites and buildings. For example, those in charge of public en try to the historic site or building ar involutioned that the site or building be open for as long as possible to as umteen pile as possible, so that the revenue is as high as possible. Those involved in preservation of the historic site or building, for example, are interested not in the entry of visitors to the site, as a primary concern, but rather that they have the space, temporal and physical, to perform the necessary conservation duties to preserve the site or building for future generations, in a kind-hearted manner.Several shift studies are discussed in Chitty and Baker (1999) including Avebury, Hadrians Wall, Norton Friary, Brodsworth Hall and various sites of interest for industrial heritage and in terms of military heritage, many of which are promoted as sites of heritage tourism (Timothy and Boyd, 2003). As Baker states in the introduction to Chitty and Baker (1999), sympathetic reconstruction and conservation is fundamental for preserving the authenticity of hist oric sites and buildings. As her argues, Avebury as it is currently encountered is largely a 1930s reconstruction and not how Avebury was constructed originally. It is perhaps the case that many visitors do not realize that the current structure is not how it would have appeared when originally built, but many of those same visitors still take a great deal away from their visits to Avebury. This presents a dilemma for the managers of the site, the National Trust, who have to decide whether to preserve the Avebury as it is, complete with 1930s modifications, or whether to change the site back to how historical records show it was when originally constructed. This dilemma illustrates the dilemma facing all managers of historic sites and buildings the management of these sites is dependent on visitor numbers, as heritage is a business nowadays, which is as dependent on revenue as any other business. Preservation of historic sites and buildings therefore needs to take office staff in wardly the confines of dealing with visitors who want to be able to freely move about a site or building that they have give to enter, for example.As Baker argues in Chitty and Baker (1999), the meaning and historical perspectives of buildings and sites can also be lost or mistranslated in the effort to maintain these sites and buildings within the context of generating revenue the holistic view of the historic remains can be lost as individual stories and narratives are generated. For example, across Derbyshire, there are many historic sites from many different ages. In a few square miles, there is Bolsover Castle, Langwith Pit, with the last remaining working pit head in the area, Sutton Mill, which is a fully working water mill, Hardwick Hall, of Bess of Hardwick fame with the largest glass faade in the UK all of these sites compete for revenue from visitors, but, as a whole, do not formulate the continuity of, or the development of, the history of the area. In the effort to co llect revenue from visitors, the history of the area as a whole has been lost to the ecumenic public, its holistic history has been waylaid. Local history is not taught in schools in the area and so children grow up in the area often unable to afford to enter the historic sites, or with parents who do not encourage visits to the historic sites, and so never learn about their local anaesthetic history. They pass dis-jointed from their local history. Heritage and community thus has no meaning for these individuals, and, as a whole, the community tends to come to view the historic sites not as their heritage but rather as visitor attractions that they cannot afford to visit and do not understand, as they have no connection to the sites or buildings, other than penetrative that they are commercial activities and that something happened there.This is a very modern tragedy, that heritage and community have become disjointed, that even when people do visit sites and buildings of histor ic interest that their experience is an isolated one, not joined up to other historical sites of interest and thus not giving a holistic viewpoint of local history, or how this local history connects to larger UK history, for example. Preservation of historic sites and buildings is more than simply conserving those sites for the future, it also comes to include the preservation of the memories and history of those sites, a goal of communication. show therefore overlaps with preservation, in terms of communicating to the visitors.Grenville (1999) looks at the rapid changes that are taking place in countryside management and their effect on the cultural grace, in terms of the conflict that this process generates between archaeologists and ecologists, and looks at many case studies such as the management of archaeological landscapes on army training grounds, the management of ancient woodlands and the conservation of monuments in Norfolk. As Grenville (1999) states in the introducti on, the identification of natural areas of implication by bodies such as English Nature separates out the significance of these areas from the possibilities of whole landscape evaluation, in a manner similar to that described by Baker in Chitty and Baker (1999) the holistic understanding of the whole landscape is lost, and whilst Site Wildlife Statements are made about these areas of significance, managers of these sites are presented with problems when the views and needs of archaeologists, ecologists and visitor satisfaction all need to be considered. An example of this comes from Thornton Abbey in Lincolnshire badgers were slowly destroying the archaeological remains at the site and the public and the resident ecologists were adamant that the badgers should be allowed to go about their business the manager of the site eventually decided the badgers should be moved on, but the event caused a great deal of consternation amongst the archaeological community (Grenville, 1999).Howard (2003) looks at heritage management, its interpretation and identity, and finds that heritage has become a major concern around the world, particularly in the UK which relies heavily on tourism to heritage sites to keep these sites open and functioning, now that the majority of heritage sites in the UK are under the control of bodies which run them as a revenue-generating exercise. Howard (2003) points out, similarly to Chitty and Baker (1999) and Grenville (1999) that because most heritage sites are now run as a revenue-generators, there is conflict between preservation, conservation and management as to how these sites should be run, managed and interpreted. As Howard (2003) argues, however, the term heritage nowadays means anything and everything the public want to save, from historic buildings to morris dancing to material culture and nature. As Howard (2003) argues, therefore, due to the heterogeneous nature of the heritage that people want to save, the management and interpre tation of this heritage is extremely change and needs many different approaches, especially as heritage can take on a nationalistic component which has entirely negative repercussions, for as Howard (2003) states, so long as heritage can be used for profit, or to produce group identity, or to subjugate or exclude psyche else, then someone is going to use it.Heritage, according to Howard (2003) is colligate to the concept of inheritance, in terms of meaning that which has been, or may be, inherited, and is also related to the idea of something that should not be forgotten, for example, the Holocaust heritage. Heritage also defines identity so that heritage has a contingent nature. That there are so many definitions of heritage, and that historic buildings and sites are bracketed together and understood in terms of heritage is perhaps what leads to some of the tensions apparent between workers of different disciplines, when approaching a historical site or building. Everyone feels they have a claim on the site or building, in terms of common heritage, and they feel a responsibility to concord their heritage from the viewpoint of their different disciplines (i.e., ecologist/archaeologist/manager). This obviously then leads to tension as their viewpoints, whilst stemming from the same common concern, differ widely and have different effectuate and needs. Heritage, whilst a term that can be used to easily describe something that should be preserved, is a term that complicates the practical preservation of that site or building, especially as heritage marketing is something that is being used for consumer-led revenue-generation (Howard, 2003).Managing heritage for the community are the phrases of the moment, with the label heritage being given to many things from historic sites and buildings to dances and religious/political ceremonies. Heritage is thus a flexible, little understood, term, that is, in Lowenthals (1995) sense, open to many and varied interpretat ions. In this context, then, managing heritage for the community is a difficult matter, which causes many tensions, between the various people responsible for managing heritage and between these people and the community in which the heritage is situated. Heritage and community are thus fuelled with tension and conflicts and the usefulness of the term heritage as a political descriptor of our collective history, packaged in to revenue-generating pieces, is called in to question.ReferencesHoward P (2003) Heritage Management, Interpretation and Identity, London Continuum.Lowenthal D (1995) The Past is a Foreign Country, Cambridge University Press.Timothy DJ Boyd S W (2003) Heritage Tourism, Harlow Prentice Hall.Grenville J (1999) Managing the Historic pastoral Landscape, London Routledge.Chitty G Baker D (1999) Managing Historic Sites Buildings, London Routledge.