Bath Spa University students help Bath Abbey look back on its past

Students from Bath Spa University are working in conjunction with Bath Abbey as part of a lottery funded oral history project.

The ‘Creating Voices’ project has been designed to capture the stories of the many individuals who were involved in caring for the Abbey’s fabric or who worked on restoring the present Abbey building. The project has received £22,200 funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

Heritage and History students from the University will help the Abbey collect and present people’s stories from over a 60-year period of the Abbey’s rich and inspiring history, from the 1942 Bath Blitz, which provided the impetus for the 13 year post-war restoration of the Abbey, up to the end of the Abbey 2000 restoration.

In addition to the £22,200 received from the HLF, a further £7,000 has been provided by the Friends of Bath Abbey bringing the project total to £29,200.

The formation of the Friends of Bath Abbey in 1948 was crucial to the preservation and enhancement of the Abbey during this period as the Friends provided the driving force and much of the funding for both these programmes.

Dr Kristin Doern, Heritage Subject Leader at Bath Spa University, said: “This is an exciting time for the Abbey, and an ideal opportunity to look back and record the experiences of those who have worked on the Abbey in the past.

“A particular strength of the project is the collaboration between Abbey volunteers and Bath Spa students, broadening the range of people our students work with, and helping the Abbey capacity build in terms of the skills of its core volunteers.

“Because the project runs over two years, it also gives us the chance to be involved in something on a longer term basis which has opened up new possibilities for how we can be involved, and increases the number of students who will benefit from working with the Abbey team. We are delighted to be involved in a project that further develops what is already a key partnership for the University, and welcome the opportunities it will bring for our students.”

The Reverend Prebendary Edward Mason, Rector of Bath Abbey, said: “We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund. Thousands of people visit the Abbey and worship here every year but often take for granted the amazing architecture and atmosphere, not realising just how many individuals have helped contribute to this.

“The project will open up a fascinating collection of memories and bring to life the post-war restoration programme, as well as the one at the turn of the millennium. It will help share these crafts-people’s stories and hopefully engender a deeper understanding of the building and the connection many people have with the Abbey, which will be especially important in light of the next phase of redevelopment including the Footprint project.”