My job as Heritage Partnerships Coordinator is to connect members of the University – students, academics and professional services staff – with heritage sites, organisations and partners. The ways in which I do this vary widely, from setting up one-week micro-internships to supporting large-scale funded projects. As I begin in post, I am seeking to nurture existing partnerships between Oxford and a portfolio of heritage sites and organisations, and to foster new opportunities for collaboration with local, national and international heritage partners.
I came to this role after several years in academia. After finishing my doctorate in History at Oxford in 2017, I ventured north to undertake two self-directed research fellowships, one at the University of Edinburgh and the other at York, where I’ve spent the past three and a bit years researching late medieval women’s architectural patronage for a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship. As a historian of gender, material culture and the built environment I have long been interested in the ways in which my research findings relate to heritage settings and interpretation. The heritage team at Oxford enabled me to indulge this curiosity, as during my doctorate I was invited to be part of a collaboration between the University and the Historic Coventry Trust, which resulted in a panel display and walking tour on Royal Women of Influence in Medieval Coventry for the city’s 2018 Heritage Open Days. During my time in Edinburgh, I reached out to Scottish heritage organisations to ask how my research might be useful to them. As a result, I have provided research for in-situ interpretation at Caerlaverock Castle and Linlithgow palace, produced audio-guide content for Historic Environment Scotland, and have been involved in organising a heritage open day and a one-day symposium on the theme of Women and Materiality in Medieval and Early Modern Scotland for academics, authors and heritage professionals. More recently, I returned to Coventry, where I spent time investigating the city’s tangible and intangible heritage as an ECR intern on the IHR Centre for the History of People, Place and Community’s ‘Creative Repurposing’ and Levelling Up: Place, Heritage and Urban Renewal’ project. My experience of research and heritage means that I am delighted to have been appointed to a role that combines my love of the two, and which enables me to support others to pursue such collaborative ventures.
Since starting in post, I’ve quickly learned that there’s no such thing as a typical day in the job. Meeting people and making connections is a core part of my role, and it’s an added bonus that many of those meetings take place in beautiful locations! In my first three weeks I’ve been to a conference in Lincoln, had lunch with the brothers of the Charterhouse in London and have supported collaborative workshops at two National Trust properties, the Firs and Chastleton House.
One of my first tasks has been to co-design the programme for next term’s Heritage Pathways seminars. As well as inviting expert speakers to share their experiences of working in heritage, I’ve also been busy arranging this term’s field trip to the Weald and Downland Living Museum. While I hope that this will be a great day out and a networking opportunity, attendees will also participate in hands-on training through a bespoke workshop exploring the museum as a research resource. I have also been devising exciting new micro-internship opportunities for Oxford students in collaboration with the Charterhouse in London, which will be advertised soon.
As a new academic year gets underway, I look forward to re-connecting with former colleagues and to meeting new ones throughout the University and across various heritage organisations. I’m sure I’ll be meeting many of you in the Humanities in person soon, but if you have a potential project idea, you’re looking for the right heritage partner or even if you’re just curious about what a heritage partnership is, my door and inbox are open.
Rachel Tweets about history and heritage @rachel_delman
Find out more about the National Trust Partnership here.
Find out more about the TORCH Heritage Programme here.
