Tales of the Frontier: Political Representations and Practices inspired by Hadrian's Wall. Follow-on Funding for Impact and Engagement

The 'Tales of the Frontier' project (TotF) was funded by AHRC from 2007 to 2013, initially through a major research grant (as part of the Landscapes and Environment theme) and subsequently through a Research Fellowship (in 2011) and Cultural Engagement project (2013). TotF explored the long-life of Hadrian's Wall (HW), which is one of the UK's most significant ancient monuments and also forms a part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site (which includes archaeological remains across Europe; Breeze and Jilek 2008; for references see Case for Support). HW also draws large numbers of visitors into the borderlands of northern England, playing a significant role in the local economy of "Hadrian's Wall Country". The Wall has previously been communicated within archaeology and to the public as a specifically Roman military monument-indeed, this Roman military identity is at the heart of the Wall's definition, protection, management and interpretation (Symonds and Mason 2009). The core objective of TotF was to explore and communicate associations derived from the afterlife of the monument and its landscape, from the C5 to the present day, addressing a rich variety of historical and contemporary values, including tangible and intangible aspects that reflect the Wall's long-term past and its significance in the present.
The results have been communicated through: a variety of academic outputs (e.g. Witcher et al. 2010; Hingley 2012), 2 popular articles (in British Archaeology and Current Archaeology) and a public exhibition that has toured a number of museums and institutions in the UK during the past 4 years (Tolia Kelly 2010). This Follow-on Funding project is designed to further develop the significant social and policy impacts of the project by creating pathways that could not have been foreseen when the initial grant application was submitted. The project team includes academics from Durham University and the main non-academic partner is Hadrian's Wall Trust (HWT). The agenda developed by TotF communicated a richer range of historical and contemporary meanings for HW than those conveyed by the traditional idea of it as the relict work of the Roman military, built in the AD 120s and disused by the early C5. These deal with the human aspects of the rich biography (afterlife) of this Roman monument and its role as a living and vital landscape, from Roman times to the present (cf. Hingley 2012). This project will engage academics, heritage managers, and public stakeholders to collaboratively develop a set of 10 Trails that can be accessed by car and by public transport and that deal with themes in the long life of the Wall that are not sufficiently addressed in current digital media and publications, including ideas about the antiquarian history of the Wall and its role as a mythical landscape. This aims to develop a transformative perspective that informs the developing interpretational policies for the World Heritage Site (cf. Mills 2013). This will reflect and maximize the results of the initial TotF project through sustained collaboration that engages a wider audience of policy makers and members of the public.
It aims to direct local people, digital communities and visitors to a variety of places and ideas that are not included in current materials that give accounts of the Wall, potentially leading to increased visitor numbers and a more sustainable management regime. It will also develop materials relevant to the historical and modern landscape along the Wall, contributing to current discussions about the 4th iteration of the HW Management Plan that are addressing the idea of a Research Framework for the natural, cultural and current landscapes of HW.

The project will create benefit for a range of organizations & individuals in the public and private sectors & also for the public. The creation of 10 Trails that pick up upon important tales about Hadrian's Wall & its landscape aims to draw in the interests & expertise of numerous individuals & organizations that work in & on 'Hadrian's Wall Country'. Policies for the management & interpretation of HW are defined in the third iteration of the Management Plan (MP) and this is currently under revision for implementation in 2015. This FoF engages with a range of themes that from important aspects of this document, aiming to integrate the interests and concerns of: (a) policy makers at national & local level (e.g. English Heritage; Hadrian's Wall Trust, Northumberland National Park), (b) members of the professional community of archaeologists involved in studying the Wall, (c) various charities & trusts that oversee particular museums & monuments (Vindolanda, Tyne & Wear Museums), (d) commercial interests (bed & breakfasts, local businesses), (e) artists working on the Wall, (f) educators in school and college & (g) interested local individuals, including volunteers working on the National Trail. The interests of these groups are already integrated through the MP Committee, which meets twice a year (on which PI is an active member), but the aim of the FoF is to develop a key output through the involvement of a range of interested individuals from all these interest groups - a digital resource to communicate 10 Trails that will lead locals and visitors to themes about the life of HW that are not addressed in existing tourist information.
The Trails address a number of agendas outlined in the MP. These documents are overseen and implemented by HWT & a number of impacts are foreseen:
(1) Encouraging visitors to explore additional sites & places that are not already famous tourist features may help to limit erosion of popular sections of the National Trail (MP, policy 10[g]), while also helping to spread the economic benefits of tourism to additional areas away from the main honeypot sites (evidently this needs to be carefully managed to ensure that the Trails do not undermine visitor numbers to existing attractions).
(2) Highlighting aspects of the historical and current landscape that add value to the Roman-military focus of much current interpretation (MP, Policy 9(f); cf. Mills 2013; for references, see Case for Support). The MP (6.11.6) explores the idea that other aspect of the HW landscape, including the Christian heritage, the border history of Reivers and Jacobites & the wider landscape, are currently being brought forward for several sites along the Wall & within its corridor, but this proposal aims to build upon this work by communicating the broader relevance of a number of these themes to all stakeholders.
(3) Developing a broader educational potential by addressing a number of themes in the life of the Wall that can be picked up by school teachers who will be able to draw upon the outputs.
(4) Highlighting an agenda for the broader valuation of the Wall for national & international audiences. HWT organizes an annual conference that is attended by a number of organizations that oversee sections of the Roman frontiers in Scotland & on the continent & the results of this FoF will be featured there (October 2014).PI will also communicate the results of this project to colleagues in Historic Scotland (Dr Lesley Macinnes) & relevant contacts overseas in Germany and elsewhere.
Policy makers & local third sector organisations should benefit through the contribution to the assessment of the value of the Wall & its landscape, seeking to address themes which communicate new ways of understanding the monument. Local people & visitors should be enabled to experience the Wall and its landscape in new ways, developing the Management Plan policy (9[g]) to engage local people and visitors in the research process.