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This case study relates the impact of work on civic entertainments as important contributors to community cohesion and identity, to understandings of local heritage, and as generators of cultural tourism. Based on the research and outreach activities of Professor Pamela King, internationally acknowledged specialist on European civic processions and shows, medieval and modern, it outlines how she is engaged with civic communities in an advisory and informing capacity to bust myths and raise the level of public debate about the nature and potential of "medieval" festivals, as various agencies seek new or enhanced ways to generate income for the city and its institutions.
Professor Cooper's research on Shakespeare and Chaucer, and the links between them, has fed directly into the continuing professional development (CPD) she undertakes with secondary school teachers, raising their interest and changing their practice. The CPD is delivered through lectures and workshops supported through The Prince's Teaching Institute (PTI), an independent charity created by the Prince of Wales. Teachers have reported excellent outcomes as a result of Professor Cooper's research programme, most notably a renewed enthusiasm both for them and their students arising from their use of this rich course material in their teaching, and its introduction of new ways to engage students. Teachers also reported that as a result of undertaking Professor Cooper's courses the attainment of their students improved.
Much of Madeleine Gray's recent research focuses on the visual and material culture of religion in late-medieval and early modern Wales. This has led to invitations to work as a consultant on several major heritage and community regeneration projects as well as numerous public lecturing engagements, newspaper articles and appearances on network television, notably the BBC's award-winning `The Story of Wales'. This media activity and heritage consultancy has repositioned the academic and wider public's sense of Welsh identity away from the traditional focus on nonconformist chapel culture and towards a wider awareness of Wales's European heritage.
The main aim of the Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND) in impact terms is to provoke a revision of the understanding of the role of Anglo-Norman in the development of English and to demonstrate how the language (especially the vocabulary) of the incoming Normans impinged on and fed into English. The project and its freely-available online dictionary (www.anglo-norman.net) have attracted considerable attention from the educated lay public with interests in language history, genealogy, family names, aspects of language use in Britain in the Middle Ages, and social history.
Impact has been achieved by speaking to non-academic groups; contributing to audio and visual displays in museums; and by being interviewed by Radio 4; Trotter appeared as an expert in a National Geographic film on broadly related matters to do with medieval literature; and the AND has been awarded a prestigious French prize. The AHRC decided to feature the AND as a project on their website in autumn 2012, suggesting that it is perceived as beneficial to their own impact and publicity strategy.
This case study is based on the pilot phase of the Corpus of Scottish Medieval Parish Churches project, which provides a detailed assessment of the medieval fabric of 105 of the c.1,136 parish churches of pre-Reformation foundation in Scotland. Carried out in 2008-09 with funding from AHRC, it focused on the dioceses of Dunkeld and Dunblane. The Corpus has been invaluable in broadening knowledge of the buildings, and hence informing the decision-making processes of a wide range of bodies and individuals involved in preserving Scotland's medieval architecture. These include, amongst others: the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and Historic Scotland; national and local societies from the Royal Archaeological Institute to the Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust; and professionals called to work on the buildings.
This impact case study focuses on the ways in which original research on Anglo-Saxon textiles has contributed to the heritage industry and increased cultural understanding of early medieval life. Professor Gale Owen-Crocker's research impacts on the public's knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon world by engaging with non-professional historians, re-enactors, textile practitioners and creative writers through public lectures, consultancy work, collaborations with museums and living history organisations.
Professor Bartlett has written and presented two television series on medieval subjects for the BBC: Inside the Medieval Mind (four one-hour episodes, BBC4, 2008) and The Normans (three one-hour episodes, BBC2, 2010). Already one of the world's leading medieval historians, he has taken his work to a much wider audience through these series. Impact in this case is primarily on cultural life, through the exposure of millions of viewers to a historical documentary about the Middle Ages. The BBC's estimate of their value is re-emphasized by the recent completion of a third series, The Plantagenets, to be screened in autumn 2013.
Bangor University's research into inscribed stones and stone sculpture in Wales c.AD400-1150 has impacted on the Welsh Government leading to the establishment of an `At Risk List' for early medieval stone monuments to aid better protection, changes in national records and changes in heritage management policies and practices. Publications in this field have also impacted on the cultural heritage of Wales through advice on monument interpretation to encourage wider audiences and tourism development, exhibitions and engagement with the media, benefitting audiences both in Wales and globally.
Decorative ironwork pervaded medieval England. In 1999 Jane Geddes published the first specialised study of the medium: Medieval Decorative Ironwork in England. Its findings generated impact when English Heritage decided to re-furnish Dover Castle in the fashion of its regal hey-day around 1180. All the iron elements in the furniture were based on the precise descriptions and dates available in Medieval Decorative Ironwork in England. Geddes helped train smiths and carpenters for the job. Visitor numbers and income increased when the project opened in 2009 and by 2010/11 had risen by 22 per cent and 48 per cent respectively. The launch of Dover Castle as an enhanced visitor attraction improved the tourist footfall in Dover town. In addition, two major TV programmes have expanded the cultural reach of this research.
This case study builds upon co-director Professor Howard Williams' expertise in archaeologies of memory and mortuary archaeology through the archaeological fieldwork of Project Eliseg (hereafter PE). This project has transformed academic and popular understandings of a unique and striking ancient monument by: (i) creating a network of strategically designed outreach activities engaging the public with archaeological fieldwork at early medieval stone monuments, (ii) disseminating the research to a range of audiences via traditional and new media, and (iii) instigated strategies for the heritage management and conservation of an internationally important heritage site.