Proposed approach to the ‘Elvaston Unlocked’ Activity Plan

Introduction

This document provides an outline of our thinking to date on how we will approach the production of an Activity Plan during the Development Phase for the Elvaston Unlocked project that will then be delivered during the Delivery Phase. The proposals for the Delivery Phase are still outline (because the Development phase is yet to happen), and this document provides a framework for the approach taken but will be clearly be subject to change as our knowledge and ideas develop through the Development Phase informed by on-going engagement with visitors and other audiences. This document should be read in conjunction with the Elvaston Unlocked Stage 1 Heritage Grant application.

Elvaston Unlocked

Elvaston Unlocked is an exciting project that aims:

  • To secure the heritage significance of the core buildings around the Castle Courtyard including the Elvaston Castle, designated Grade II* i.e. nationally important
  • To improve and grow the visitor offer and visitor experience including better opportunities for engagement and telling the stories of Elvaston
  • To start to improve the financial sustainability of the Elvaston Estate

The practical outputs of the HLF project will be as follows:

  • Renovation of the ground floor and a proportion of the first floor of Elvaston Castle to provide a flexible, bookable space for weddings, conferences, functions, learning and community use, guided tours and other events
  • Conversion of the second floor and a proportion of the first floor to residential use, with up to six flats envisaged. These could be managed as holiday accommodation, short term, long-term lets, and wedding accommodation or an appropriate combination of these uses.
  • Conversion of parts of the Top Stable-yard to retail and office use
  • The creation of a new larger café in the Courtyard next to the Castle, with associated toilet facilities and improvements to the quality and feel of the Courtyard to make it a much more attractive space. Closure of the existing café, and its re-fitting to provide catering facilities that solely serve the functions etc. taking place in the Castle
  • A creative programme of events, interpretation and activities that engage existing and new visitors in the heritage of this special place, including a major focus on developing the huge volunteering potential of the Estate
  • A much more attractive and welcoming arrival in the visitor car park delivered by an overall refurbishment and renewal of the signage, footpaths and visitor information

Fleshing out the last two bullet points some more, our aspirations are that the project will provide a programme of learning, interpretation, engagement and volunteering, including:

  • Providing opportunities for people to work on conservation projects by offering a range of ‘hands on’ activities.
  • Empowering current and potential visitors to contribute to decisions on how the project unfolds and how they see the future of Elvaston, building on the major stakeholder engagement during 2013 and 2014.
  • Inviting local people to assist with the research and in creating a lasting legacy for future generations (such as photography and other documentation of the project). In addition opportunities for community activities to develop local ownership which put Elvaston at the heart of the local community will be provided.
  • Building on and developing new partnerships with a range of community organisations to enable the range of themes to be explored.
  • Creating a new range of volunteering opportunities such as different interpretation styles (costumed interpretation, guiding skills, and specialist tours) to encourage a wider variety of people to volunteer.
  • Working with contractors, training bodies and staff to offer apprenticeships and accredited training opportunities for young people in a range of skills, from stone masonry to plasterwork to ensure that these traditional skills are safeguarded and that young people are offered previously unexplored career options.
  • Providing tailored activities and informal learning opportunities for new and existing audience groups. These will build on the history of Elvaston as the different layers of history of the buildings are discovered.
  • Opportunities for visitor interaction with the construction project during the Delivery Stage, e.g. the provision of viewing areas, webcams, guided tours and updates in appropriate media to help visitors understand the sequencing and nature of an historic building repair and construction project.

Our approach to developing an Activity Plan during the Development Phase

The building blocks

Through the development of the 10 year ‘Vision and Plan’ for the Estate in 2013 and 2014, and the subsequent work on preparing a Stage 1 application to the Heritage Lottery Fund, Derbyshire County Council (with the support of the National Trust Consultancy) has gathered information:

  • About who visits Elvaston now (the existing audience), what they like and don’t like, and their aspirations for the future. However, it is recognised that further survey is needed to get a fuller understanding
  • How existing community, user groups, volunteers and general visitors engage with the site now in a range of activities (from practical volunteering, campaigning for a better future for Elvaston, fundraising, running events, etc.) and initial thoughts about what isn’t provided or could be developed
  • Initial scoping of what the future potential engagement opportunities of the existing and potential new audiences could be
  • The capacity and competency of the current Derbyshire County Council (DCC) site team based at Elvaston to provide engagement, learning and volunteering opportunities
  • Initial views from the visitors and others in the community on the planned HLF Elvaston Unlocked project, for example through a ‘drop-in’ session in the Gothic Hall, Elvaston Castle in November 2014 that gathered comments from over 300 people but a recognition that further testing of these proposals is needed before they are finalised

A breakdown of the current, potential and new audiences and activities is included in Appendix 1, which provides a good baseline dataat the start of the Activity planning process.

A draft ‘Spirit of Place’ has also been developed for Elvaston following a workshop with DCC officers, site staff, and volunteers, facilitated by the National Trust (NT).

Spirit of Place (SOP) is a short statement that captures what is unique, distinctive and cherished aspects of a place. It is at the heart of how people feel about and experience a property and why it is relevant. It captures what make a place special and ultimately why people should love that place.

The draft Spirit of Place for Elvaston is:

Created by many hands as a haven for a family line, turned by circumstance into a sanctuary for two lovers and transformed into an escape from ‘everyday life’ for thousands; this continually evolving miniature world reveals countless glimpses of its long history.

The castle stands at the heart of the estate, overlooking a landscape ranging from majestic conifers and woodland to formal topiary and rock work which inspired so many historic estates. Slightly worn at the edges, this homage to romantic Gothic fantasy still has the power to inspire and surprise with its gleaming gilt and dramatic painted interiors.

Some of the grandeur of Barron’s experimental design has been eroded by happy, running feet and generations of exploring hands; the growing power of the Stanhope family has waned, but their enduring creation of fantasy and escapism is still felt throughout the house and grounds.

Similarly, a draft Statement of Significance has also been prepared (refer to Appendix 4)

The statement reflects the broad range of significance, from a physical description of the Elvaston Estate, its cultural landscape, buildings, architecture, collections, archaeology, gardens, parks, land-uses and nature and wildlife. The statement of significance also covers the potential to develop new values, or enhance present ones. Finally, it recognises and incorporates nationally measured levels of significance, including listed building status, registered parks and gardens, and all natural heritage site designations. It will complement the proposed review and update of the Conservation Management Plan (CMP) for the Castle and buildings surrounding the Castle Courtyard.

In addition, a further workshop in late 2014 worked off the Spirit of Place toidentify the key themes and stories we wish to explore through the Elvaston Unlocked project

The key theme identified is one focused on the Gothic Romantic, with sub-themes highlighting the sense of sanctuary and access. The key theme is evoked by the architecture of the Castle and other buildings designed by James Wyatt (as well as other buildings in the gardens like the Moorish Temple), the love affair between the 4th Earl and actress Maria Foote, and the fantasy and escapism of the gardens themselves, created with William Barron from the 1830’s. This can be summed up in the draft sentence:

A romantic gothic fantasy that offered sanctuary to a pair of star-crossed lovers and heralded a revolutionary garden

The sub-themes of sanctuary and access relating to the escape and haven the Estate provided to the 4th Earl and his wife, and more latterly for the wider community and other visitors through its opening to paying visitors in the 1850’s, and as England’s first Country Park in 1970.

These are themes and stories that resonate today and one which will provide many interesting opportunities for our visitors through a variety of mediums to explore relationships, isolation or exclusion, and what a sanctuary means to our visitors and where to find it (refer to Appendix 2 for further detail on the ideas explored).

The Statement of Significance, Spirit of Place and outputs from the key themes and stories workshop will all beimportant in informing how the Activity Plan is developed and rolled-out.

Next steps

It is proposed to recruit a Volunteering and Community Engagement Officer funded by the Development Phase to build on the work undertaken to date and co-ordinate the development of the Activity Plan(in adherence to HLF guidance) through the following key work-streams:

Where are we now?

1.Review the information and knowledge captured to date regarding current activities, audience and organisational processes, capacity, etc.

2.As part of the preceding work-stream, review the current approach to volunteer recruitment, management and support at the Elvaston Castle Estate, and to update and broaden the approach as appropriate in liaison with site staff and volunteers, to make it fit for purpose for delivering the Activity Plan and sustainable in the longer-term.

3.Organise further visitor survey and consultation to gather a better understanding of:

  • The current audience and their segmentation – we have some knowledge of our current visitors but need to know much more to deliver a coherent Activity Plan that delivers for them
  • Visitors thoughts and suggestions on the proposed new facilities and visitor offer planned as part of Elvaston Unlocked project, particularly within the Castle and around the Castle Courtyard such as the new café – as the detail for the capital programme starts to emerge through the Development Phase we need to test this with audiences and respond constructively to the feedback
  • Visitors thoughts on the types of engagement activities they would be interested in, with emphasis on the Elvaston Unlocked project, to test emerging ideas
  • visitors thoughts on opportunities for volunteering and what would encourage them to get more involved, with an emphasis on the Elvaston Unlocked project – volunteering already happens, but there is potential to grow this, and with the delivery of the project diversify the volunteer offer considerably

This will be complemented by a series of workshops and establishing a series of research groups with staff and volunteers to help inform knowledge of how visitors and user groups relate to and use Elvaston now and how they could do in the future.

A brief for the further visitor/audience survey is included in the Supporting Documents attached to the Stage 1 application.

4.Through further and more detailed participative consultations and informed by more in-depth analysis of current ‘best practice’ from comparable heritage sites. This will include further bench-marking and drawing of experience from the National Trust in opening historic buildings and spaces to the public and increasing engagement and interpretation, including how visitors can be actively engaged in the conservation, repair and building works in heritage regeneration projects

5.Further work engagement with visitors and stakeholders including community groups, students and schools to develop the thinking around key internal and external spaces within the project. Scoping out how key spaces in the castle can be multi-functional not only for commercial uses but also be interpreted for educational and general public access when appropriate. For example,the creation of a central visitor hub around the Castle Courtyard (including the Gothic kitchen as Elvaston’s‘shop window’); improvement to the wider visitor facilities and growing thecommercial offer all offer opportunities for engagement and interpretation, as will the opening of the ground floor of the Castle for weddings, conferences and community events with managed public access when appropriate to all floors of the Castle, including views over the parkland, and the Orchid Room on the top floor.

6.Ensuring that the information and insight drawn from the review and updating of the CMP for the Castle and other buildings around the Castle Courtyard feeds into the activity planning process

7.Using Spirit of Place as a starting point, develop and hold a series of further workshop sessions to work with staff, volunteers and key audiences to gain their understanding of ‘what’ Elvaston Castlemeans to them. We will gather visual and written insight from our key audiences to quantify and illustrate via a series of mood-boards to create a final and overarching Spirit of Place for Elvaston (refer to Appendices 2 and 3)

Making strategic decisions about engaging people

8.To bring the above and other insight together through a series of meetings and workshops involving people from across the full project, to make strategic decisions about the activities and engagement that will be undertaken before the Activity Plan is mapped out in detail. To ensure there is synergy with the capital works programme. Use the Spirit of Place, Statement of Significance and emerging key theme and stories to influence the strategic decision making

Action planning for the project(outline)

9.Prepare a detailed Activity Plan for the Delivery Phase of the project

10.Work with graphic designers to help formulate this into a series of design principles that will cover all aspects of the look and feel of Elvaston; from welcome signage and orientation, directional signage through to building materials, from furniture in public and commercial areas to interpretation and marketing materials. This will then inform the design of these materials themselves during the Delivery Phase. A brief for the visual design work is included in the Supporting Documents

11.Using the information and insight gathered to up-skill staff and volunteers by developing a range of training programmes such as Spirit of Place, our story concept, training in new interpretive and engagement techniques and developing new ways of working for all staff and volunteers to promote continuous development.

In addition, we will develop an Assurance Board/Stakeholder Group to which we will invite members of the local community to take part. The group will act as a sounding board for the proposals we develop for the Activity Plan and will therefore work closely with the Project Team/Volunteering and Community Engagement Officer.

At the right moments during the activity planning process, the Volunteering and Community Engagement Officer will recruit, train and manage a diverse team of volunteers to fill roles identified in the preparation of the Activity Plan and as appropriate its delivery. This will enable more volunteers to take ownership of the Activity Plan development and its delivery, becoming the driving force for activities during and after the project

In developing the Activity Plan, we will work hard to ensure the widest possible community participation, involving a diverse cross section of current and potential Elvaston users in the development of how Elvaston will be used and will engage with current and potential audiences.

Appendix 1: Elvaston Castle and Country Park - Audience/Activities - Current, Potential & New

HANDS ON VOLUNTEER GROUPS
Audiences / Current Activities / Future Potential
Individual volunteers / Basic conservation tasks
Practical tasks within core gardens
Practical activities supporting management of Heritage Allotment
Support for Events / Undertake visitor surveys
Volunteer managed car parking at events/bank holidays
Volunteer wardens and stewards (supporting exhibitions, opening Gothic Hall more regularly) on site.
VolunteerInterpretation Guides
Volunteer led web site, news pages and social media.
Volunteers support running of shop and information centre.
Mid- week volunteers / Generally older, very able bodied and capable group.
Undertake practical tasks.
Have joined SOP workshop and User group. Supported stewardship in Park event.
Maintain Museum Cottage garden. / Keen to contribute in a variety of ways and would make excellent volunteer leaders and could play key role in developing volunteering job roles as well as act as stewards or wardens.