Bennachie Landscapes: Investigating Communities Past and Present at the Colony Site

Ongoing research at the Colony site, on the iconic hill of Bennachie in northeast Scotland, is bringing historic and contemporary communities closer together. A collaborative effort between the Bailies of Bennachie, a local community group, and the University of Aberdeen, is helping to shed light on the history of this 19th century farming community; a place locally celebrated for its crofter-colonists and their struggle with neighbouring landlords. The project has two interlinked objectives; the first is related to the history of the colony, while the second is related to the process of undertaking research in the context of community heritage initiatives.

Little is known about community relations among the 'common' people of 19th-century rural Scotland, and what is known tends to play on very generic stereotypes. As the Colony provides a fascinating window on local historical processes, our research will use archaeological and historical methods to go beyond the more clichéd understandings of this period. In this context our goals are to find out about community relationships within the settlement, focusing in particular on local hierarchies, social relationships, and local ways of thinking and working. The ruins of the settlement will be uncovered, surveyed and subjected to archaeological excavation and environmental analysis, and these findings will be fully contextualized in relation to period-related settlements in the broader landscape. In addition we will examine related historical records in order to provide complimentary evidence about the local character of life in the Colony and how it compared with settlements beyond.

Significantly, the project is about much more than historical inquiry; it also aims to provide insights into the process of creating knowledge about the past, specifically in the context of community heritage initiatives. We will track the means by which knowledge is produced in our archaeological and historical research through participant observation and through structured interviews with a broad range of community members. The object will be to learn more about how relationships created through doing heritage research affect the way that knowledge about the past is used in new settings. Ultimately our research seeks to provide inspiration and guidance to allow future projects, including ongoing work at Bennachie, to be more effective and to engage with community more fully.

The outcomes of the project will be felt in both academic and community circles. Peer reviewed publications will provide the results of our findings from both the historical and community learning elements of the project. Moreover, publically accessible publications, including a website, will provide community user groups with valuable information to facilitate like-minded projects well beyond the region. Finally, a major new exhibition on both strands of our research at the Bennachie Visitor Centre will provide an important new focus for heritage learning.

This project will provide significant direct and indirect impacts on a variety of groups, including community participants, other community heritage projects, institutions that support and encourage community-based activities and the wider public. At a basic level, the project builds on links between the university and a community group, the Bailies of Bennachie, who have an important non-governmental stewardship role in a nationally-significant landscape in northeast Scotland. It will extend these relationships through facilitating further opportunities for inclusive participation in landscape research, management and appreciation, all key aims of the European Landscape Convention (ELC 2007).

In a wider context, through our reflexive work on the creation of co-produced research at the Bennachie Colony, our collaborative efforts will provide concrete methodologies for best practice within the context of creating a more sustainable community heritage initiative at Bennachie. At a broader scale, the outcomes of this project will feed into academic and non-technical publications, which will provide models for community heritage projects elsewhere.

A core element of impact will be skills training to build capacity amongst the community in techniques for heritage research,including participation from younger generation. One of the key groups that will be affected by our work will be those working within the education sector, specifically teachers. Schools-based activities on Bennachie will not only provide pupils and teachers with opportunities to get involved in different aspects of archaeological and historical research, but will also provide a means for assessing how knowledge is produced in these contexts and how it can be used in other settings. It will make clear distinctions, for example, in the relationship between formal and informal learning in a schools environment (Curtis 2007). Significantly, it will have direct implications for teachers working with the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence.

The project will also lead to a much greater understanding of the heritage of one of Northeast Scotland's most visited landscapes; a place where heritage plays a major role in its perception and enjoyment. Wide dissemination of the project results will be encouraged by regular press releases on the progress of the project (along with advertised opportunities to encourage involvement through local and national media); all strategies that were used to good effect in Phase 1 of the project. Information will also be made widely accessible on the University and project website. All of these activities will promote public understanding and appreciation of the past.

Finally, the project results will also feed into the resources available at the Bennachie Centre, a visitor resource visited by over 30,000 people a year. The project will culminate in a co-produced exhibition at the Bennachie Centre that will showcase the project results. The exhibition will be advertised in the press and on the project website and blog. As a semi-permanent display, it will provide educational resources well beyond the life of the project. Additional modes of dissemination will target specific users linked to the undertaking of community heritage projects. Here outputs will include detailed, accessible resources on the project website. These will provide the project with a long-term digital legacy, which will ensure that our results are available globally. Furthermore technical and non-technical publication will be distributed to the organisations mentioned above for consideration at regional and national levels.

Curtis, E., 2007. Finding the Curriculum in the Environment: Fieldwork approaches to student learning in Initial teacher Education. International Journal of Learning 14(5): 179-189

European Landscape Convention 2007. http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/heritage/landscape/default_en.asp