Caring for post-military futures: alternative development futures for former military sites in the UK.

This is a project about former military sites in the UK which have evaded celebration and scrutiny by either state-promoted conservation and heritage management regimes or by non-state public organisations and institutions with a remit for the care of historic sites and buildings. It asks about the questions and challenges which relatively obscure, un-celebrated or un-acknowledged military remains pose in the present and suggest for the future, in terms of their potential for future development and use, and in terms of the narratives about armed conflicts which they promote. Funding is sought for activities including surveys of existing databases and archives to establish a typology of management and non-management of 20th century sites in the UK, research including fieldwork and interviews on two post-military case study sites which are currently not managed for heritage consumption, and a comparison with another un-managed site in another European context. The intention of this exploratory research is to contribute to an on-going conversation about the current and future possibilities for the care of post-military sites, beyond their documentation and formal designation as monuments through current listing and scheduling practices. It will do this by exploring issues pertaining to sites which have not to date received investment and intervention through heritage management and/or commercialisation, to ask what issues such sites raise both for future social and economic development in different types of localities, and for public narratives about past armed conflicts in the UK.

Three groups of research users have been identified:

1. Specialist and amateur groups with interests in post-military remains
There is a wider community in the UK of amateur historians and enthusiasts with an interest in the identification, interpretation and management of historic military sites. Within that community, there is a growing interest in the fate of 20th century historic military sites. This interest has been manifest in the healthy membership levels of specialist groups (concerned with shared interests in specific types of features such as pillboxes, defence fortifications, historic dockyards, prisoner of war camps) and in the collaborative exchange of expertise, information and ideas about post-military sites. This group have always welcomed interchange and dialogue with academic researchers.

2. Established heritage management organisations
There are also a number of established heritage management organisations who have either a statutory or long-standing interest in the identification, interpretation, management and preservation of historic military sites, and which have initiated much of the debate about 20th century military sites. These include English Heritage (and Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish equivalents), the National Trust (and national equivalents), plus organisations such as the Fortress Study Group.

3. Local economic development personnel and organisations, particularly in rural localities
Those responsible for planning and economic development working within or alongside local authorities, who are alert to the development issues surrounding sites containing post-military remains, have an interest in the development and management (or non-management) of such sites. The use (or non-use) of redundant military remains has a particular nuance in remoter rural areas, given the econonomic fagility or vulnerability of many such areas, and the absence of viable alternatives in terms of local employment and opportunities for business and enterprise. Much of the applicant's early work on the issue of military landscapes in the mid and late 1990s was concerned with this specific issue of the development of redudant defence lands, and local agencies including community councils, local economic partnership and local planning authorities have been identified as having a particular interest in this issue.


How will they benefit:
The proposed research is an exploratory study; there are two issues which, prior to the research starting, are judged likely to be of interest to the three groups of users outlined above.
The first of these is the continuing, on-going issue of socially and environmentally sustainable development in rural areas. Rural development issues are particularly pertinent to this research, given the location of many of the un-managed sites that are the focus for the study. Those with an interest in the broad range of issues within rural development will have, therefore, some interest in the current uses and future care of post-military sites. It should not be assumed that this interest will be translated into moves towards heritage management or conservation, but rather that the question of the future of these sites will be addressed within a broader rural development framework.

Second, there is an open question as to the range of alternative futures envisaged for these sites, the possibility of management for alternative uses beyond heritage, and use for non-commercial activities, including art, leisure and liminal activities. As part of this investigation into the future care of post-military remains, the intention will be to seek dialogue with the groups identified above with regards to the possibilities for alternative futures beyond non-intervention, and the public narratives of war to which these sites may contribute.