Citizen Writes
Research hot topics
Roman worlds for diverse communities
2022-06-22
By Professor Sarah Scott
Professor Sarah Scott has led a team of students and colleagues to bring archaeology and classics to new audiences in the East Midlands and beyond. Life in the Roman World is a programme based on research carried out by the School of Archaeology and Ancient History (SAAH) and large-scale investigation of Roman Leicestershire by University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS). It explores the complex, diverse communities of the Roman world through the prism of local heritage. Such research has been synthesised and made accessible through a book, a collaborative website, resources and activities for schools, and museum interpretation. The programme has made Roman-era history, culture and language accessible to c.40,000 regionally, including c.6,600 pupils in local schools, many from disadvantaged backgrounds. The programme is a student/staff collaboration. More than 120 students and graduates have been involved since 2015, and have been key to its success.
Life in the Roman World has promoted and facilitated school and community engagement with local museum collections, heritage sites and archives, including the Jewry Wall Museum and Roman baths site (Leicester) during an extended closure for renovation and during the pandemic. The research is also informing the interpretation and immersive aspects of the new £15 million Jewry Wall Museum, Leicester; Sarah is academic adviser, together with Mathew Morris and Nick Cooper of University of Leicester Archaeological Services. This new visitor attraction will focus on themes including Leicester’s place in Roman Britain, life in Roman Leicester, the Jewry Wall baths and Leicester’s archaeological pioneers and will serve as a key element of the city’s tourism offer. Sarah and Mathew are writing a new guidebook to the site, commissioned by the Friends of the Jewry Wall and Leicester City Council (funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund).
The team has collaborated with arts and heritage organisations across the region, co-delivering events linked to Leicester’s Roman heritage, such as Roman Leicester Family Days, and Roman Leicester in Minecraft events at Leicester Creative Business Depot (funded by Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society).
The research has underpinned the museum interpretation and learning programme at the Chester House Estate, a £17M heritage centre in Northamptonshire (on the site of a Roman town), for which Sarah was the lead researcher and writer and has led to a formal partnership. The site opened in October 2021 and has exceeded all targets for footfall and income generation: ‘Our relationship working with the University of Leicester School of Archaeology and Ancient History, and in particular Prof. Sarah Scott, has been vital for the Chester House Estate in our first year of opening …our working in partnership has helped us exceed all our opening projections and provided far greater opportunities for us to engage our visitors with their Roman heritage and hit audiences that might otherwise have been missed’ (Business Manager, The Chester House Estate).
Our partnerships with Leicester City Council and North Northants Council are showing the potential for collaboration between researchers, archivists, curators and the public in making archaeological research and archives accessible and engaging for diverse audiences. For example, the AHRC funded project Ancient Objects – New Stories is investigating Roman-era objects in the Leicester City Council Museum Store and the Northamptonshire Archaeological Resource Centre. The investigations are providing opportunities for pupils in local schools to investigate the biographies of Roman-era objects found in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. The investigation is using cutting-edge equipment in the School of Archaeology and Ancient History, including techniques such as scanning electron microscopy and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. Participants are showcasing their research and responses to the investigation in exciting, accessible and non-traditional formats, and Leicester City Council is documenting the project on film and will use footage in the new Museum. This collaboration is ensuring that SAAH research and ULAS discoveries underpin the interpretation of Roman heritage in the East Midlands. It is enabling young people from diverse backgrounds (including many disadvantaged pupils) to gain an understanding of the history and significance of local Roman heritage and museum collections and to contribute to an inclusive future that incorporates their own perspectives, experiences and interests.
These initiatives have been funded by Classics for the All, the ESRC (Impact Acceleration Account Leicester), the AHRC, the Leicester Archaeological and Historical Society and the University of Leicester (Research Impact Funds).