Tourism Research in Historic England

Growing awareness of tourism heritage

Historic England, and its predecessor organisations English Heritage and ultimately the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (RCHME), have been in the tourism business since 1908, albeit perhaps sometimes indirectly. In recent years, Historic England has become more directly involved, partly due to changing ideas about what makes up our heritage.

A century ago, this was restricted to studying buildings predating the early 18th century, and therefore the entire history of our leisure and tourism industry and its heritage lay beyond the scope of its research.

Fast forward to the present day and we are now much more conscious of the serious business of fun, and the legacy that it has left behind.

It was in this context that English Heritage undertook a study of the evolution of the seaside resort, culminating in the publication of England’s Seaside Resorts in 2007, as well as books on Margate (2007), Weymouth (2008) and Blackpool (2013), and a book celebrating the wealth of our photographic archive in 2005.

In 2018, a study on The Seafront was published, concentrating on the area between the end of the pier and the first line of buildings. This holistic study spans history, architecture, heritage, geography and engineering to try to understand and celebrate this complex space for the first time. Alongside, and stemming from work on the seaside, Allan Brodie has been exploring other aspects of tourism, including England’s rich spa heritage. The culmination of his work was the publication in 2019, of Tourism and the Changing Face of the British Isles.

Research with real impact

This research is not simply an end in itself; by celebrating and explaining the seaside resort and tourism heritage, it aims to influence decision-making, nationally and locally.

Raising the profile of this heritage has undoubtedly contributed to a greater willingness to recognise the problems facing seaside towns and the wealth of opportunities that they offer.

Coinciding with the publication of England’s Seaside Resorts and an advice document Regeneration in Historic Coastal Towns in 2007, the government announced a three-year Sea Change fund of £45 million to be spent on cultural and heritage projects to stimulate regeneration in seaside resorts. And during the subsequent decade, other streams of funding have been earmarked for seaside resorts and earlier this year the House of Lords published a report on The Future of Seaside Towns.

Studies of individual resorts have also had direct local impacts. The first of these in Margate in 2007 contributed to a strategy of promoting arts- and culture-based regeneration in the town to coincide with the creation of the Turner Contemporary Gallery.

Weymouth in 2008 was a response to the forthcoming Olympics, as it was to host the sailing events, and the research work on Blackpool was an attempt to highlight its rich heritage at a time when the town, one of England’s most deprived, was in the midst of major regeneration initiatives.

In 2005-6, the project on Margate brought together members of English Heritage’s research teams, regional planning staff and members of the local authority to work to understand the town, its issues and how to direct money and effort towards regenerating the town.

This project was one of the inspirations for Historic England’s Heritage Action Zone initiative launched in March 2017 and therefore it is fitting that two of the first ten Heritage Action Zones were at seaside resorts, Weston-super-Mare and Ramsgate.  Concerted research has taken place at both, yielding improved heritage protection by reorganising conservation areas, establishing new listings and feeding into decisions about targeting funding. Another outcome of both these projects are Informed Conservation volumes, the book on Weston having been published in 2019, with the work on Ramsgate to follow next year.

Making a difference

Historic England’s research is of the highest quality, regarded with great esteem, nationally and internationally. However, what is equally important is that it makes a difference to the places that it is studying, describing and celebrating.

Its work on England’s seaside resorts has also contributed to enriching the Historic England Archive and will therefore also continue to serve as a celebration of England’s rich tourism heritage over the coming century.

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