As we move further into the autumn months, the ReACH team has been continuing to build momentum across our research strands. As well as making progress on our data collection, the past few weeks have also offered valuable opportunities to connect with others working in church heritage across the UK.
Reflections from the V&A’s Great Expectations Conference
Earlier this month, Lizzie attended the V&A’s Great Expectations: Working with Historic Places of Worship conference in London, with Emily and Helen joining the event online. The day brought together a broad range of voices, from heritage professionals, people working within faith communities, and even some familiar public figures like Hugh Dennis and Rob Rinder, who all reflected on the challenges and opportunities facing historic churches today.
Much of the discussion echoed themes at the heart of ReACH, including the necessity to understand churches as not only architectural landmarks, but also as places which are layered with memory, meaning and community identity. Many of the speakers shared personal stories and lived experiences which have shaped their connections to these buildings, emphasising that communities lie central to conversations about their future.
It was encouraging to see an alignment with our project aims, and to situate Scotland’s challenges within this wider UK context.
Sharing ReACH at the Historic Religious Buildings Alliance
Following on from her attendance at the V&A event, Lizzie also recently spoke at the Historic Religious Buildings Alliance (HRBA), which introduced the project to a new audience of practitioners, researchers and heritage professionals. The session also generated valuable contacts and potential collaborators, which we look forward to developing as the project progresses.
Progress on Data Collection
Our data collection work continues steadily, and we are currently gathering and consolidating information from national heritage records, archival surveys and church inventories, specialist databases and existing reports (such as those generated by Scotland’s Churches Trust Church Recording Project) and academic research.
This process is helping us to map both the existing knowledge base, as well as the gaps that still need to be explored. This is a critical stage as we begin to shape the structure of our database, which will be publicly accessible and will bring together tangible and intangible heritage information in a single, open resource.
We have also begun engaging with organisations and individuals across the sector to explore data-sharing collaborations. Many people have undertaken excellent recording work in specific areas of church heritage and we aim to bring these efforts together, in order to strengthen the overall picture.
Preparing Our Next Pilot Study
Alongside this work, we are now organising our next pilot study, which will help us to refine our fieldwork approach and test elements of both the heritage recording methodology and our social value surveys. These pilot stages are an important part of ensuring our processes are robust, scalable and useful for the range of communities and buildings that we will be working with across Scotland.
Looking Ahead
In the months ahead, we will be continuing our fieldwork, expanding our data collection and developing the structure of the database. Updates will continue to be shared here on our website, as well as across our social media channels.
We’re also pleased to share that our first Heritage Action Group meeting will take place in January – date to be confirmed. This session will focus on early findings, opportunities for collaboration and ways that the group can help shape the development of the ReACH database and fieldwork priorities.
Full details and registration will be circulated shortly.
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If you are working on Scotland’s church heritage and would like to connect with us – or if you have existing data that you’d be able to share – we would be delighted to hear from you!
Be sure to sign up to our Heritage Action Group Mailing List if your work touches upon church buildings, their contents, or their social and cultural value, and you’d like to be a part of our growing network.