Ongoing impacts: legacies of the ‘Hands on Tapestries’ project

Inspired by the themes of impact and legacies, this presentation will consider the ‘footprints’ of an HLF-funded conservation project. Through discussion of a single case study it will demonstrate how the interests of an heritage property, the practice-based conservation discipline, and academic research may be unified, establishing a connected and productive heritage community. The ‘Hands on Tapestries’ project (www.hlf.org.uk/our-projects/hands-tapestries) aimed to generate opportunities for training, education and experience through the removal from display, cleaning and stabilisation of a set of nationally important C17 tapestries hung at Doddington Hall, near Lincoln. As a postgraduate student at the University of Lincoln the author was part of the conservation team who undertook the work. ‘Hands on Tapestries’ has since matured beyond its original remit; delivering opportunities for emerging conservation professionals to gain valuable graduate work, for a supervising conservator to work towards professional accreditation (PACR), and most recently for the development of an original body of research in fulfilment of the author’s PhD qualification. The presentation will first explore the legacy of the ‘Hands on Tapestries’ project in terms of fulfilment of its aims, from the point of view of the author as a direct participant. It will illustrate the value and impact (at a micro-level) of such a project to a student conservator and emerging professional, with reference to academic achievement, employability and professional practice skills. Next, the presentation will consider potential legacies of the future, by outlining the author’s object-oriented research into the Doddington Hall tapestries, and its conceivable macro-level impacts.