Historic England has supported a special issue of the online peer reviewed journal ‘Internet Archaeology’, which showcases the power of heritage-led wellbeing and how it can help progress the democratisation of heritage, diversify engagement, and help address societal inequalities.
Amongst the articles and case studies, two are especially relevant to industrial heritage museums and sites. Firstly, an article by Desi Gradinarove looks at two Historic England’s pilot studies for using heritage and social perscribing, outlined in HE’s Wellbeing and Heritage Strategy (see Historic England Research Issue 18, 2021). The two pilots showed the potential of heritage to deliver wellbeing and provided evidence on how it can work within social prescribing, and formed the basis of an HE sponsored Heritage and Social Prescribing Guidance.
Secondly, an article, co-authored by a team led by Karina Croucher, looked at place, identity and welling in the Bradford area, with the local university working with a variety of partner organsiations to explore the importance of identity, and the role of heritage and culture, for wellbeing, cohesion and resilience across three parent projects abd seven subsidiary projects. One of these, Saltaire: People, Heritage and Place (an AHRC Place-based programme) used digital twin technologies to explore heritage, alongside creative workshops with school learners, exploring their journeys, routes, and narratives within the industrial world heritage site.
This special edition of ‘Internet Archaeology’ provides useful case studies, methodologies, and approaches on how to intergrate health and wellbeing within an (industrial) archaeology context. To access this themed addition of the journal for free follow this link: Internet Archaeology. Issue 73. Wellbeing and Archaeology. 2026.
Industrial Heritage Networks 