Not Only Kings & Queens
A Local History Hub and Digital Archive Project
A Project Proposal
Introduction
The story of Winchester and the story of the English people have been intertwined since the town’s establishment and before. From Iron Age settlement to Roman fort to Saxon seat of power and beyond, Winchester has been witness to every step in the development of the very idea of England.
Kings and Queens have lived and reigned here. Saints have shaped its map and even given their lives for what they believed here. Princes and Bishops, Generals and Prime Ministers have been educated here. Judges have presided over the most shocking and scandalous trials here. Their stories are well known and well recorded.
But what about the “ordinary” folk of the city? The butchers and bakers, nurses and teachers, carpenters and corset makers, publicans and policemen? They are, after all, the warp and the weft upon which the rich tapestry of pomp and pageantry is stitched.
What about their stories?
Concept & Operation
Up and down the country High Streets are changing - and Winchester is no exception. Rising rents and associated costs, along with the continuing move towards online shopping had begun changing the retail landscape of our towns and cities even before the current pandemic.
As a result of these factors, an unprecedented number of available retail units can be seen in most High Streets. Whilst this has understandably been seen as a cause for concern and even despair, communities are increasingly becoming aware to the opportunities this change can bring.
This proposal looks to embrace this change and create a local history hub in an empty retail unit in Silver Hill in the heart of Winchester. This hub will be the physical and spiritual home of the Winchester Peoples Archive Project (WPAP) which aims to create a digital archive of community-sourced photographs and ephemera - as well as oral history recordings - telling the stories of the lives of the ordinary people of Winchester.
The hub will provide a space for recording and cataloging contributions to the project as well as a space for meetings, discussions and talks. It can also become a place for individuals, community groups and schools to use to learn more about the history of the townsfolk of Winchester and surrounding villages as well as tell their own stories.
Working with experienced full time staff, a committed group of well-trained and empowered volunteers will be encouraged to take on as many roles in the hub as possible, both audience facing and behind the scenes.
The creation of a Peoples Archive in Winchester will give the community the chance to have their stories and images recorded and documented, to be used for both research and reminiscence, for posterity. Using sector-standard procedures, the memories of the people of Winchester will be treated with the respect that only the most illustrious have been given in the past.
The appetite for online repositories of digital media can clearly be seen by the proliferation of such sites on various social media platforms. The Winchester Peoples Archive would always work with and complement such sites to create a better understanding of all areas of local history for all.
The situation regarding the future of the retail property sector is, it is safe to say, fluid. There are both local and national factors are affecting the market and as such things can change very quickly. Whilst this proposal is for the establishment of a hub in a specific site in Winchester, the concept of the Peoples Archive having a physical presence in a vacant retail unit is a flexible one - should the chosen site become unavailable for whatever reason, the hub will be agile enough to be set up in alternative suitable premises with a minimum of disruption.
The hub will be able to provide a nexus for interested organisations to interact with the local rather than national and international audience which is the focus of so much of the heritage offering of the city. Using the expertise of colleagues from the city’s Museum Service, the Records Office, Hampshire Cultural Trust, Winchester BID and beyond, there is an opportunity to create and develop a meaningful local history resource which is of, by and for the people of Winchester.
It is envisage that the day to day business of the hub would consist mainly of members of the community accessing and/or contributing to the Winchester Peoples Archive. This could mean bringing in some photographs to be scanned and catalogued, and maybe setting a date to make a contribution to the Oral History collection or it could mean accessing the Archive to find records of interest to them, a school photograph for example, or to log a correction to be reviewed.
One of the priorities in the development period is the recruitment and training of the staff that will be the lifeblood of the whole endeavour. The importance of getting this right cannot be over-stated - to deliver a meaningful service and provide the people of Winchester with an innovative and sustainable resource, the staff (both paid or volunteers) must be committed to the cause. There is no doubt that there is a pool of talented individuals who are willing to give of their time to various good causes in the city - this project needs to choose carefully from them to achieve the correct mix of skills, experience and attitude that will create a welcoming and professional environment for users and staff.
Whilst the recruitment of paid staff is obviously dependant on funding, it is difficult to see how the hub could function without two full time members of staff and a team of at least 5 volunteers. The exact numbers will be determined by the opening hours of the hub which can be determined by the level of interest generated by the pre-launch marketing. It would make sense to open, maybe 4 days a week to begin with and then then extend this when demand and interest grow.
Similarly the question of governance of the project needs to be addressed at an earlier rather than later stage and again this is impacted by funding - less so the amount of funding but more the requirements of the funders. It is envisaged that a clearly defined management structure will be required by all funders and planning to put this in place should start in the development stage with adaptations made to meet each funders requirements once they have been identified.
Ideally a board of trustees will be established, with all stakeholder groups including users represented. It is vital to ensure that the voice of the sector of the population using and contributing to the project is not lost. As stated previously, for this project to succeed it needs to be - and to be seen to be - of, by and for the people of Winchester or it runs the risk of not achieving the credibility needed to be sustainable.
As far as current models of best practice in the field to emulate, the obvious examples are The Peoples Archive and The British Culture Archive, which have been providing a community sourced archive since 2017. WPAP aims to be a smaller, more local version of these two well established archives and follow their dedication to best practice in the field - though it is unlikely in the initial stages that any commercial side will be sought to be developed. The project will keep abreast of developments and innovations in the field of community archives as well as complying with strict ethical standards in the areas of copyright, ownership, representation and accreditation.
The Site - position
The site proposed in No.1 Silver Hill which was last occupied by Lloyds Pharmacy. The unit is situated on the corner of Silver Hill and Cross Keys Passage, directly opposite the eastern entrance of Kings Walk precinct. Next to the unit is a large full height loading bay which is shared with Bike Hub shop on the other side - all three premises are all owned by the same pension fund.
The unit is a large two storey building consisting of a retail space on the ground floor with further offices and storage on the first floor. On available inspection, it is currently in an average state of repair though there is evidence of some recent water damage to the ground floor ceiling. All repairs would be included in the negotiations with the landlord and completed before proposed occupancy. (Unfortunately it is not possible to arrange access to the property until later in the month, so a detailed inspection will be carried out then and arising from this, detailed risk assessments can be drawn up).
The main frontage of the shop is fully glazed with 2 entrances and partially glazed on the Cross Keys Passage side. This means the unit benefits from good natural light despite its proximity to Kings Walk (a four storey office block with currently a shopping precinct below).
The site’s proximity to the city centre means it benefits from well established transport links. The bus station is within 250 metres and there is ample car parking available at the Brooks Shopping Centre and Middle Brook St car park. The main shopping area and the High Street with its restaurants and cafes is within easy flat walking distance. There is some residential areas nearby - notably council sheltered accommodation in Lower Brook Street, an estate of private flats in Friarsgate and Victorian terraces in Middle and Upper Brook Streets.
The nearest school is St Bede’s Primary School (about 0.5 miles away) with Westgate School being the nearest Secondary School at about 1.5 miles away. Peter Symonds VIth Form College is also about 1 mile away. The main campus of University of Winchester is about 1.5 miles away but the main student accommodation is closer.
It is fair to say that despite this proximity to the Broadway and High Street, Silver Hill is an unloved area of Winchester City Centre. Footfall is low along its length and it is mainly used as a service road by taxis and delivery vehicles. The majority of foot traffic in the area is a result of the GP’s surgery and associated car park in the adjacent Tanner Street plus some from Winchester School of Art campus (about 0.5 miles away). There have been some anti-social behaviour issues towards the west end of Silver Hill but these have mainly been dealt with by the introduction of city centre wardens.
Whilst the proposed audience for this project is predominantly residents of Winchester, and despite not being on the main “tourist trail” of the city (From the Cathedral to the College to the Castle), it is likely that visitors to Winchester - both national and international will find there way to the hub. The will, of course, be welcomed and the staff will be happy to explain the history of the project and how it works on a day to day basis.
The unit itself has been listed for demolition to make way for the new proposed “Silver Hill Redevelopment”. The surrounding area (which covers Friarsgate, Silver Hill and Kings Walk) has been earmarked for redevelopment for nearly 15 years, with various plans submitted and inquiries held.
Whilst wishing to remain neutral in the ongoing debate regarding the suitability of the latest solution to the area’s future, it should be noted that the name “Silver Hill” has become synonymous with lengthy delays, council inaction and (alleged) “sharp” planning practice in the minds of many Winchester residents. As it stands, the site remains viable for 3 years at least and likely longer - into the medium term.
However because of the nature of the retail property market, the Winchester People’s Archive Project will remain agile and ready to relocate at short notice. Although sited in the heart of the city to begin with, it is expected (and hoped) that the project will move from vacant space to vacant space around the area, to increase both its reach and scope. To this end the fixtures and fittings will be easily relocated and adaptable to a different sized premises. Additionally this design ethos lends itself to be easily replicated so it would be possible to imagine satellite hubs in empty units across the Winchester City Council area, especially in more rural areas, which are often overlooked by the current heritage provision.
The branding of the proposed site will reflect its past life as a shop. The font and signage will use the “Stymie” font which is very typical of shop signs in 1960s and 1970s. The windows will be partially covered with a vinyl manifestation using images and text to explain the concept of the hub and the WPAP. A large video monitor will be placed at the far end of the window and will play a looped slide show of recent additions to the archive and subtitled videos of oral history contributions being recorded.
The interior of the space will be adaptable for a variety of uses so the use of simple movable furniture is a priority. Plain white walls will give a sense of space and lightness and these will be adorned with a selection of unframed images selected from the items that have been brought in to be added to the archive. This would change every Monday and give another reason to visit the space regularly. The overhead strip lighting will be adequate for the display of the images given the natural light that the glazed frontage will provide. Unfortunately without knowing the extent of the repair work required it is not possible to provide any meaningful internal visuals.
The space can be reconfigured for talks and lectures and funding applications will include a set of 30 stacking chairs for this purposes. If these events prove popular additional options will be needed to be considered, and initial negotiations with the landlord will include discussions regarding the use of the shared loading bay as a performance/exhibition space.
The Benefits
As mentioned above, the concept of sharing historical photos online via social media has been established for a number of years and even a cursory glance at a local history page on Facebook, for example, shows the level of animated debate and engagement. One of the outcomes of this engagement is social connections made and re-established - old friends, neighbours and even family members reconnecting on these platforms is commonplace.
There is a real sense of ‘community” created by these Facebook groups and, bearing in mind that Facebook is increasingly a platform used by a more mature audience and that WPAP aims to work in a complementary way with the “Winchester Memories” Facebook group, it is a reasonable assumption that the primary demographic of the local history hub will be the same.
Ideally WPAP would be a physical manifestation of this online phenomenon with all the benefits around feeling part of a community will bring especially focusing on isolation and loneliness, by creating a sense of place. There is also the potential of promoting Winchester Movement Campaign by the development of heritage trails aimed at specific groups (for example, a “Lost Pubs Pub Crawl” aimed at 55-65 males).
The benefits of volunteering are well known and well documented. The National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NVCO) states that among the social benefits are “meeting new people and making new friends” and “getting to know more about the local community” but also volunteering could also give an opportunity to develop skills, enhance a CV and be a route to employment.
The proposed increased footfall in the area surrounding the hub would have a beneficial effect to the businesses in the area, it is fair to assume (and easy to measure anecdotally) if, for instance, the cafes in Kings Walk and by Cross Keys Passage notice an increase in trade associated to the opening of the hub.
A 360-degree feedback form is to be designed collaboratively which will give all stakeholders the opportunity to give qualitative feedback on the performance of the hub as an entity and its staff. Visitor number and satisfaction data will be collected routinely and shared with all stakeholders, as well as data regarding performance against funders KPIs.
Ways of Working
As the project moves forward, connections with the wider Winchester community and structures become increasing important. These connections are being made now and it is hoped that they will continue to develop. Especially helpful in these early stages has been the support of Winchester BID with have been generous with their time and expertise to make sure the project is brought to the attention of all potentially interested parties.
Winchester BID have also offered to support the project approach to the units current owner, AEGON Property Fund Limited and moving forward assisting with negotiations regarding rent and responsibilities. As mentioned above, a full risk assessment will be completed for insurance purposes as well as for the safe-guarding of staff.
The relationship with Winchester City Council will be absolutely vital to the success of the project and it is hoped to engage with them on many fronts, from funding to support with advertising, to accessing the expert advice of the City’s mainstream heritage staff. The project is identifying City Council grants which can be accessed and, with the help of BID, will be making applications in the short term.
Whilst wishing to remain independent the project must acknowledge it does not exist in a vacuum and needs to forge links with other organisations and to work collaboratively with them. There is no desire to engage in any “turf wars” with any organisation - working in partnerships as equals is the preferred method.
The following organisations have been identified as potential allies and/or partners:-
Hampshire Cultural Trust
Hampshire County Council
Heritage Open House
Winchester Memories Facebook page
Silver Hill Regeneration Group