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T H E B U I L D I N G C O N S E R VAT I O N D I R E C T O R Y 2 0 1 4
T W E N T Y F I R S T E D I T I O N
WHAT IS HERITAGE?
IAN BAXTER
A
SKING AN
academic to answer
the question ‘What is heritage?’ is
risky, not least because of the likely
academic interests or prejudices of the
writer. There is also the danger that the
response renders heritage in the abstract
rather than in terms of the everyday objects,
buildings and places which make up the
experience of heritage for most people in
modern society. An effort will therefore be
made here to focus on heritage in the real
world, and to explore the many facets of what
might be termed a ‘problematic’ concept.
We cannot ignore the fact that most of
our inherited associations with the past,
which we may collectively term heritage,
arise from very personal connections,
actions, ideas and empathy with a spirit of
place. The intangible psychologies of heritage
and our tangible management of the built
environment are therefore inextricably linked.
Although in common parlance ‘heritage’
is often used when referring to particular
examples of the built historic environment
or culturally-influenced landscapes, the term
‘historic environment’ has failed to gain
traction in the media or with the man on the
Clapham omnibus. Essentially, this is because
the term fails to express the fundamental link
to the human and personal histories bound
up in our physical fabric of places. ‘Heritage’,
on the other hand, resonates with people
both as a label and as a concept. Indeed,
even buildings which are now considered
architecturally dull or unfashionable can
often be recognised for their role in a
location’s fabric as heritage and for having had
historical resonance within the community
in the past. Thus the concept encompasses far
more than just those physical features which
might be identified, accorded significance,
and ‘managed’ as the historic environment in
any professional sense.
The physical fabric of heritage is very
much the hard-wiring which links a location
with the people who have lived there, be they
individuals, families, or groups of people who
hail from or who have congregated there,
and who have thereby influenced the form
and features that the built environment now
includes. A typical example of this is the
iconic British country house, as celebrated
in historical fiction and period dramas such
as Downton Abbey. A particular family line
may have a very distinct effect not only on a
society’s cultural and historical development
but also very directly in a physical sense
through the construction of houses, farms
and churches, and through the management
of landscapes. Such influential families can
also exercise a wider influence by promoting
a favoured architectural style or approach
to urban form and planning, or through
expressions of philanthropy.
Beyond the core of the immediate
environs at the ‘family house’, the styles and
designs representing unique heritage-scapes
can be found up and down the country
providing distinct community identities.
For example, one of the most widespread
legacies to have affected the physical and
cultural heritage of the UK and elsewhere
was the building of libraries endowed by
Andrew Carnegie. Between 1883 and 1929
a total of 2,509 libraries were built with the
aid of the Scottish-American businessman’s
donations to towns mainly in the UK, the
United States, Ireland, Canada and Australia.
While individual building styles were chosen
by the communities in which they were built,
a number of styles and forms dominated
through the influence of Carnegie’s staff.
At the other end of the scale,
immigration and cultural changes have
transformed the character of whole
neighbourhoods. In many industrial towns
and cities terraces constructed to house
local workers are often found to have
been reconfigured socially and culturally
as their new communities dynamically
manage the physical environment, making
their own mark on it and contributing
to the heritage story of a place.
Heritage and the dynamics of change
within the physical environment are at the
heart of what we can call ‘place identity’.
Such identities are often described with
reference to preconceived notions of what
the type of settlement should look like, be it
in rural England or the Scottish highlands,
a farmstead or a mill complex. However,
effective heritage management requires
a more thorough understanding of the
structure, form and landscape of the place.
Heritage management goes hand in hand
with the study and understanding of urban
and rural historic development, form and
landscape and the development of research
methodologies to explore, understand and
explain the character, significance and value
of heritage assets and landscapes has grown
in sophistication over the last two decades
in particular. A place identity will, and
should never, be static as a successful ‘living’
community and built environment is one
which can adapt and change – heritage can
therefore be thought of in terms of resilience:
a glue which gives historical sense to the
fabric of a place.
Individual elements and actions create
the wider public landscape. It is therefore
not surprising that the notion of ‘tapestry’
is often used when looking at the range of
elements from different time periods, of
different style and design, which make up the
neighbourhood in which we live, and which
are key to the concept of ‘character’ that
people desire of the place they live.
The linkages of people to places, and the
forms of expression which surround us in the
built and natural environment influence our
behaviour consciously and subconsciously,
and the psychologies of heritage bring about
an intrinsic need and desire to understand,
look after and enjoy it.
Royal Crescent, Bath: ‘heritage’ or ‘the historic environment’?
