'Inspire, move and illuminate: Using environmental history as public history at a National Trust estate in Somerset'

In this new collaboration with the National Trust's 12,000-acre Holnicote estate on Exmoor, Peter Coates and researcher Ben Eagle (trained in environmental history at UoB) will work with staff at this western Somerset property to investigate its environmental and landscape histories, and how they shape its spirit of place. Through archival research, field study and interviews and meetings with local residents and stakeholders, we will not only investigate how human and ecological communities have changed over time and consider how they will fare in an uncertain future. We will also contribute to the National Trust's current Spirit of Place exercise for this particular estate.

Project outputs include a report highlighting key findings regarding spirit of place; recordings of interviews and a photo album. The project will also evaluate the potential of an environmental history approach to visitor engagement at Holnicote.