Project Showcase

PIs: Prof Katrina Navickas and Dr Daniel Grey

Pembroke House, founded in Walworth, south-east London, in 1885, is one of the world’s first settlement houses. Settlement houses have had a profound impact in British society, including influencing the development of the NHS and the welfare state.

Today, neighbourhoods are on the national agenda, and charities are seeking to expand ‘place-based’ ways of working. Settlement Houses provide a rich history from which we can draw ideas and practical applications to contemporary social policy. The project will use community-based research to inform a model for local residents about collaborative ways of overcoming socio-economic disadvantage.

This research is a scoping project for an oral history of the settlement’s residential volunteers, conducted by the staff and volunteers of Pembroke House, and advised by Prof Katrina Navickas and Dr Daniel Grey. The output of this project will be 8-10 oral histories and a model to advise a larger application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

For more on the project, go to the project page

"The diaries of the Rickmansworth farmer John White are revealing every day more detail about his life and work in the second half of the nineteenth century, and the Three Rivers Museum, which holds them, are very keen to make the best possible use of them. So joining a University team led by Dr Sue Davies and Dr Derek Ong in Project HARVEST, funded by the Impact Accelerator Account, will be a wonderful way to extract and make available the full heritage value of these priceless records.

The project (Hertfordshire Agriculture: Researching a Victorian Enterprise for a Sustainable Tomorrow) will draw on both the transcribed diaries and the digitised financial records to allow Business School students to explore what John White was doing, in a time of depression in farming, which allowed him to prosper while many others struggled. This will allow them to present suggestions to inform those dealing today with similar problems, while the museum will be able to draw on the analysis done by the students to present with authority the story of John White's life and times in and around south west Hertfordshire."

This project will use a remarkable business archive to examine how the past can inform efforts to create more sustainable circular businesses. Most of the material, which is held by Three Rivers Museum, was created by John White (1813–1904) who farmed Parsonage Farm, Rickmansworth for over 60 years and kept a diary for 50 years. The combination of detailed descriptive diaries and the financial information over such a long period (1839- 1896) makes the archive an incredibly rich source of historical data. This project will involve University staff, students and museum volunteers and help put this material in context.

Three Rivers Museum is in the process of digitising and transcribing a unique archive of diaries, farm stock books and accounts from 1839 to 1896. This co-produced research project will use the archive to expand our understanding John White’s livelihood, the nature of farming in Rickmansworth during the 19th century and identify lessons on sustainability. Working with the key stakeholders (museum volunteers, students and staff at the university) this project will set this material in context and enable the museum to publish extracts online. We will examine the business of the farm and discover whether there are lessons from this historic example that can inform our efforts in the 21st century to create more sustainable circular businesses.

Project PI: Dr Ceri Houlbrook

Project Partner: Covid Families for Justice UK

Communities grieve in diverse ways. But, in the aftermath of a tragedy, spontaneous memorials often form. These are unofficial, often unsanctioned memorials, that help people to mourn but can also act as political statements of defiance or political stances.

Some academic work has been conducted on the spontaneous memorials that form in response to terrorist attacks, mass shootings, and the deaths of public figures. This project will look at how the Covid-19 pandemic has been memorialised.

Throughout 2021, 150,000 red hearts were painted onto a wall beside St. Thomas’ hospital in London – in pointed view of the Houses of Parliament – each one bearing the name of a Covid-19 victim.  This became an unofficial memorial to pandemic victims, added to by bereaved friends and family members.

Members of ‘Covid Families for Justice UK’ recently petitioned the government to support the wall becoming a permanent memorial. This petition was rejected. Now the hearts are at risk of being removed by authorities or being weathered away.

Dr Ceri Houlbrook is interested in the contested heritage of spontaneous memorials, and in the questions they raise about who has the right or responsibility to produce, maintain, or remove them. Working with ‘Covid Families for Justice UK’, this project will produce a photographic archive of the memorial, capturing every individual heart and the name it contains. This will ensure the digital preservation of a culturally (and politically) significant memorial for people today and in the future.

Project PI: Dr Sam George

External Project Partner: St Pancras Old Church, London

This project focuses on the legacy of Romantic era physician and writer, John William Polidori (1795-1821), author of the first vampire story in English (1819).

Polidori died a suicide aged 25. Despite his innovations and his interesting family history (he is the posthumous uncle of Christina Rossetti and her brothers William Michael and Dante Gabriel Rossetti), Polidori lies in the Churchyard of St Pancras Old Church in an unmarked grave.

To preserve his legacy, Sam is developing a Polidori tour, addressing his literary significance and uncovering the gothic history of the churchyard, (the site of Mary Godwin and Percy Bysshe Shelley’s courtship), The tour will feature in an accompanying souvenir booklet.

This is an ethical project that seeks to preserve the heritage of St Pancras Old Church which has withstood the Industrial Revolution, Victorian improvements, wartime damage and an attack by Satanists in 1985.

The church’s motto, ‘And I am here in a place beyond desire or fear’ is suggestive of the way it has acted as a sanctuary and is inclusive of all those who are troubled.

Project PI: Dr Jennifer Evans

Project partner: Mr George Fredenham, expert forager and distiller

Throughout the early modern period recipes for ‘Kitchen physick’, medicinal remedies produced in the home, were recorded in manuscript collections. Remedies treated everyday ailments like headaches and more serious conditions like gout. ​​​​​​​

Historians have discussed whether ingredients for these medicines were sought in the hedgerow or were purchased from an apothecary.

This project will bring to life the skills required of men and in the seventeenth century to produce remedies in their kitchens.

Dr Jennifer Evans and expert forager and distiller George Fredenham, who ran ‘The Foragers’ restaurant in St. Albans for ten years, will together create foraging walks that seek out ingredients commonly used by seventeenth-century men and women, including common mallows, elderflowers, and germander.

These walking tour workshops will develop participants’ understanding of the accessibility, complexities, and dangers of finding suitable ingredients in the English countryside. ​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​The walks will vividly evoke the depth of seventeenth-century people’s everyday botanical and medical knowledge and will reveal how these same plants and substances are now being rediscovered and used in contemporary food and drink.

Project PI: Professor Jonathan Morris

External Project Partner: Berkhamsted Castle Trust, Hertfordshire

This project focuses on creating new trails for Berkhamsted Castle in Hertfordshire, a motte-and-bailey castle built in the 11^th century. One of the most important early Norman castles, it was occupied by key figures of the Middle Ages such as Thomas Becket and the Black Prince.

The Berkhamsted Castle Trust has partnered with the University of Hertfordshire Heritage for Business Team to produce a set of Castle Trails. These will take the form of imaginatively designed, accessible, but historically accurate printed sheets that BCT volunteers can distribute to visitors.

There will be a variety of trails designed for different types of users which will also link the castle’s history to that of its surrounding communities. For example, one trail focuses on the history of the key women connected to the castle, particularly their power ad agency, whilst another is designed for children and families.

Project PI: Elizabeth Murton,  UH Arts + Culture

External Project Partner: St Albans Museum + Gallery

Living Memories of St Albans School of Art is a project led by UH Arts + Culture, that captures people’s memories and shares their stories of the art school. Bringing together alumni, students and staff, as well as relations of those who were part of the school’s community, the project has collected their stories to explore the school’s history, its place in the region’s culture and wider impacts.

The research in this project has been co-created by inviting participants to share their recollections in their own words. During phase #1 of the research , a series of sessions enabled participants to record oral histories and contribute to the project in their own personal ways, as well as exploring the history of the school through local archives, art collections and group conversations. This research was then collated into a publication in 2024, which you can view in digital format on the UH Arts + Culture website.

This research will lay the groundwork for a major dual-venue exhibition in 2025 to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the School of Art. The first exhibition is at St Albans Museum + Gallery (23 May 2025 - 21 September 2025) and is followed by a sister exhibition at the Art + Design Gallery, situated on the University’s College Lane Campus (31 October 2025 – 30 January 2026). Exhibition info on the UH Arts + Culture website.

There will be other opportunities to get involved in the second phase of the project in summer/autumn 2025, to co-produce research and contribute stories of the school. If you would like to find out more or get involved, please email: uharts@herts.ac.uk

PI:  David Ingledew (School of Life & Medical Sciences)

Co-I:  Steve Clarke (St Albans Cathedral)

The project aimed to develop a set of learning resources for KS2 - KS4 pupils to be used both in schools, the Cathedral and local area. The project focused on the people, places, causes, consequences and significance of the 1381 Revolt in St. Albans and beyond, and how they interconnect.

To achieve this project aim, it drew upon the latest academic research, i.e. the People of 1381 projects, as well as archival materials and the local historic environment of the Abbey and St. Albans. In addition, the resources were  developed using a dialogic approach to history pedagogy drawing upon David Ingledew’s doctoral research.

Resources were designed to be adaptable depending on the focus of the historical enquiry and schemes of work followed by the school.

A supplementary exhibition was also created and displayed in the Cathedral for both school groups and the general public to enjoy in June/July 2024.

PI:  Dr Daniel Grey

Project Partner:  Museum of Totterdown, Show of Strength theatre company

In June 1896, Amelia Dyer was executed for the murder of 3-month-old Doris Marmon. Dyer had spent more than 20 years working as a so-called ‘baby-farmer’ and is alleged to have killed as many as 400 children in her care. Born in Bristol, Dyer spent many years in the suburb of Totterdown, where she remains a folkloric figure. Through co-producing a Totterdown walking tour, this project enhances the professional practice of both Show of Strength theatre company and the Museum of Totterdown, and will provide the public with more nuanced engagement with Dyer’s story and the ‘dark heritage’ of Bristol.

PI:  Professor Jonathan Morris

Co-I: Anna Hammerin

In 1917, impacted by the First World War raging in Europe, neutral Sweden faced widespread hunger uprisings. These uprisings, initiated by women, eventually led to the country's democratic breakthrough. Unfortunately, the full story of these events is virtually unknown to both Swedish and international audiences, as ordinary women’s voices are seldom heard in historical accounts. To uncover the hidden history, the project Co-I Anna Hammerin, along with a film photographer, embarked on a journey in 2019 to document the events and gather primary-source research, oral-history interviews, and film footage. The aim of this project is to create a documentary film that will serve as a free online educational resource to provide more and accurately representative information than what is currently available in Swedish school history books.

The film has since been shown in screenings across Sweden and Finland with immense success, and Anna has even been interviewed on Swedish radio about the project.

PI: Catarina Carvalho

Co-Is:  Sarah Halliday, Dr Peter D' Sena, Sara de Sousa, Fazana Farook, Hanh Doan, Dr Christopher Lloyd, Dr Daniel Grey

The ‘Diversifying and Decolonising Museums’ project focused on developing and delivering a set of workshops and training for members of the Hertfordshire Association of Museums. The project is grounded in work happening at UH and beyond that questions the colonial foundations of institutions like universities and museums. This project aims to impact people beyond higher education through public engagement outputs that will enable other areas of society to rethink their histories and structures of whiteness. We thus intend our academic research and praxis to involve those who work in the museum/heritage sector, as well as the local community.

PI: Dr Penny Pritchard

Project partner: Care of God's Acre

Dr Penny Pritchard will work with Caring for God’s Acre's 'Our Digital Ancestors' team, who promote the conservation of burial sites in the UK, to deliver a creative writing project about non-conformist graveyards in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.

The project seeks to uncover hidden histories of the site, famous for being the resting place of key Non-Conformists such as Joseph Chamberlain, George Dawson and Harriet Martineau.

'Our Digital Ancestors' is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, they have been able to support the recording of burial sites across England and tell the stories of those buried there.

PI: Professor Peter D'Sena

Project Partner: Severndroog Castle

Professor Peter D'Sena will work will the Severndroog Castle Building and Preservation Trust, who care for this 18th-century Grade II* tower on Shooter’s Hill, London.

With expert academic input from Professor D’Sena combined with strong community co-creation, the project will aim to provide Severndroog Castle with a wider range of inclusive, participatory heritage interpretation, creating resources and installations that will remain in use into the future.

PI: Associate Professor Susan Parham

Project partner: The Garden Museum

Associate Professor Susan Parham and doctoral student Ellie Pritchard will work with the Garden Museum to explore the role of gardens in localised food systems within English Garden Cities and New Towns.

Special attention will be given to Hertfordshire’s two garden cities, Letchworth and Welwyn, and the representative New Town examples of Harlow, Hatfield and Stevenage, exploring their influence on contemporary and future food-resilient spaces.

PI: Dr Ceri Houlbrook and Dr Jennifer Evans

Project partner: Chelsea Physic Garden

Dr Ceri Houlbrook and Dr Jennifer Evans from UH will work with the Chelsea Physic Garden, a four-acre living library of native and imported plant species, established in 1673 for the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries in London.

This project will explore the myriad folkloric associations of these plant species: their abilities to protect, to heal, and to tell a story.

This project will draw together the archival materials of the Garden and the research of Dr Ceri Houlbrook and Dr Jennifer Evans to create an engaging and enchanting exhibition about the folklore of the autumnal flora within the garden’s grounds.

PI: Professor Katrina Navickas

Project Partner: Historic Towns Trust

In this project, a Research Assistant will collate and carry out historical research about the town of Hertford. Collaborating with partners such as the Historic Towns Trust, HALS and the East Herts Archaeological Society, the project will explore the topographical history of the town’s transformation over time.

This research will be used to create a beautiful, historically accurate map
of the town across the centuries, complete with social history, stories and educational resources that bring Hertford to life for residents, school children and visitors alike.

PI: Dr Helen Cornish

Project partner: Braintree Museum, Essex

John Ray, the ‘father of natural history’, was a leading 17th century British naturalist and botanist.

Born in Black Notley in 1627, Ray was greatly influenced at a young age by his mother, Elizabeth, a local herbalist and wise woman. Unfortunately, very little is known about any of the wise men and women of Braintree District.

The aim of this project is to research these individuals to better understand John Ray’s early life and the potential impact they had on his later work. The research
will be interpreted through panels for a celebratory exhibition of John Ray’s birth in 2027.

PI: Dr William Bainbridge

Project partner: North Hertfordshire Museum

This project recovers the overlooked contributions of Henrietta Pilkington and Margaret Thomas whose works are preserved in North Hertfordshire Museum. Their paintings and travel accounts from Jerusalem and the Middle East will be reinterpreted to transform public understanding of Victorian women’s mobility. A research assistant will work alongside the PI and museum staff to generate content for new interpretation panels and a digital booklet. These outputs will directly enhance the museum’s visitor offer and provide a sustainable digital resource for local and potentially national audiences interested in gender, travel and art.

PI: Dr Rowland Hughes

Project partner: Charles Dickens Museum

Accompanying the Charles Dickens Museum’s Extra/Ordinary Women exhibition this project will build on existing research to bring some of the great women behind Charles Dickens’s life and works out of his shadow and give them a voice.

A writer-in-residence, mentored by the PI and collaborating with local community groups, will look at the Museum’s displays in a new light and co-produce fresh interpretation through creative writing, building skills and confidence of the participants.

These new displays, along with a family trail, a tour and creative writing workshops will engage visitors with women’s stories in more depth and widen the impact of this research.

PI: Dr Christopher Lloyd, Dr Richard Vytniorgu

Project partner: Hertfordshire Archive and Library Service

This project will co-create a queer map of Hertfordshire, showcasing existing and newly sourced LGBTQ+ stories, objects, and memories from HALS, museums, and the public. Hosted on the Herts Memories website, the virtual map will link queer histories to specific locations. Outputs include an embedded map widget, an Instagram account for outreach and collection, and a touring display.

The project aims to highlight personal and overlooked LGBTQ+ histories, foster public engagement, and strengthen partnerships between archives and communities. Impact will be measured through online engagement, feedback, and follow-up with contributors to assess the significance of their submissions.