Practising Reparative Histories in Rural Heritage Sites

英国乡村包括国家遗产的标志性遗址。乡村别墅代表着由来已久的精英乡村生活方式，而水力纺织厂则将英国的过去称为工业先驱。然而，这些网站所展示的历史及其吸引的访问者缺乏多样性。黑人和亚裔群体更多地居住在城市地区，他们报告说，在访问农村期间，他们感到孤立和不同。许多人认为，尽管存在关键联系的证据，但他们的遗产在农村遗址中没有得到充分代表。在乡村别墅里，黑人或亚洲人物的肖像、“异国情调”的产品和植物暗示着这种联系，而纺织厂则展示在气候较温暖地区种植的原棉供应。然而，这些历史很少被探究或解释，而且由于与殖民和奴隶贸易做法有关，常常被视为具有挑战性。该项目寻求将遗产组织、黑人和亚洲社区团体和学者联系在一起，旨在使各方受益。它的目标是利用与非洲人和亚洲人后裔的历史联系的证据，在农村遗产遗址制作更多样化的黑人和亚洲历史的代表，并改变他们的组织文化。农村纺织和乡村地产遗址的两个关键实例被选为合作场所。第一个是克罗姆福德磨坊，是德比郡德温特山谷磨坊世界遗产的关键位置，因其开创性的棉纺织业而被指定为世界遗产。第二，纽斯特德修道院是一个著名的乡村庄园，特别是因为它与诗人布赖恩联系在一起。在这两个案例中，合作小组都承诺进行一系列讨论、访问和共同制作新的方式来展示这些遗址，并增强其对少数族裔群体和广大社会的意义和吸引力。

The UK countryside includes iconic sites of national heritage. Country houses represent long-standing elite rural lifestyles while water-powered textile mills refer to Britain's past as an industrial pioneer. However these sites suffer from a lack of diversity in the histories presented and the visitors they attract. Black and Asian groups are more typically resident in urban areas and report feelings of isolation and difference during visits to the countryside. Many feel their heritage is not sufficiently represented in rural sites, despite evidence existing of key connections. In country houses portraits of Black or Asian figures, 'exotic' products and plants suggest these connections, while textile mills display raw cotton supplies grown in warmer climates. Yet these histories are rarely explored or explained and are often seen as challenging to address due to associations with colonial and slave trade practices. This project seeks to connect together heritage organisations, Black and Asian community groups and academics in a collaboration which aims to benefit all parties. Drawing on evidence of historical connections with people of African and Asian descent its goals are to produce more diverse representations of Black and Asian histories in rural heritage sites and to change their organisational cultures. Two key examples of rural textile and country estate heritage sites have been selected as venues for the collaboration. The first is Cromford Mills is a key location in the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site in Derbyshire, designated due to its pioneering cotton textile industry. The second is Newstead Abbey is a well-known country estate particularly due to its associations with the poet Bryon. In both cases the collaborating groups have committed to a series of discussions, visits and co-production of new ways of presenting these sites and enhancing their meaning and appeal for ethnic minority groups and wider society.