Applicant: Murton Heritage Society
Location: Murton
Grant awarded: £48,600
Total project cost: £66,672
Grant programme: Your Heritage
Type of heritage: Records and collections David Dudley
Aims of the project
To provide equipment and display materials for a community heritage resource at the Glebe Centre, Murton.
Background to the project
The Glebe Centre is a well-used community venue. It occupies a former miners’ welfare building, dating from the time when the coal mines around Murton were active. This project was initiated by the local community in response to a report from the Coalfield Communities Campaign to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). People wanted to increase access to heritage information and encourage the community to remember, celebrate and learn about their mining heritage. The project proposals were based on extensive local consultation.
The project steering group included members of the National Union of Mineworkers, Easington District Council and Durham County Council. Murton Heritage Society is a small group of volunteers and at the time of this project was relatively inexperienced. However, the group was able to draw on a wide range of support to undertake the project.
What did the project involve?
An upstairs corridor at the Glebe Centre was turned into a display area with display cases and pinboards. An adjoining room was equipped as a study and archive centre with two computers and peripherals. The changing displays focus on local life and history. Objects and memorabilia, such as miners’ lamps, old typewriters and family photographs are contributed by local people. For example, the first display contained 120 photographs from local sources that had been scanned on the new office equipment. Heritage information is being stored on a computerised database and original documents deposited in the County Archive. Links have been set up with local history groups and family tree groups run by Peterlee College in the Glebe Centre. Volunteers receive training through Durham County Council’s mining history course in archiving and research techniques.
What difference did the project make?
The Glebe Centre is used by a large cross-section of Murton’s population of around 7,000. In addition, it hosts regional meetings and conferences. The new displays are thus being enjoyed by a wide audience, many of whom have personal and family conections with the material on show.
Murton Heritage Society holds weekly meetings and encourages people to put forward their own ideas for the displays. The new heritage resource is particularly well used by family history researchers. Partnerships between the Glebe Centre and Peterlee College and Durham County Council will bring long-term benefits through providing training opportunities.
How did the project meet our criteria?
The project met our Your Heritage criteria because it set out to:
increase understanding and enjoyment of our heritage;
give people a better opportunity to experience heritage by improving access; and
help to improve people’s quality of life by benefiting the community and wider public.
Useful tips
Derek Gibson, Secretary of Murton Heritage Society, makes the following points:
keep a broad spectrum so that your project appeals to as many people as possible;
someone has to lead – it’s useful to have a list in advance of what you want people to do;
make sure that you’re offering a service that people actually want;
personal connections are important – a lot of people hear about our project by word of mouth.