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4.1: Introduction

This chapter explores the findings from the initial interviews, field visits and the feedback interviews to put forward the case for the multiple heritage narratives associated with Towneley Park and the multiple heritage narratives held by individual participants.

Traditional histories and Authorised Heritage Discourses are one type of heritage enabled at Towneley by association with the historical events of the eliticised and the monolithic structure of Towneley Hall. But there is much more going on. This chapter explores some of the different heritage narratives that were told and retold from the participants' points of view and helps to highlight the relevance of everyday participant histories. The chapter explores how the participant narratives can reveal how meanings are formed, maintained or threatened for park users. The analysis also demonstrates how AHD and non-AHD may cohabit in the same heritage site.

4.2: Traditional Histories

Approaches to history and attempts to distinguish it from other ways of aiming to

understand the past are hotly contested (Lowenthal 1998; Hewison 1989; Carr 1985). The term is loaded, implying an epistemology which for some is objective (Lowenthal 1998) and for others compounds a social power inequality (Bourdieu 1986; Foucault 1980; Samuel 2012). Many of the participant observations relating to the past of Towneley Park have involved features or topics which are strongly associated with what might be regarded as the traditional epistemology of history. For example, Towneley Hall itself is strongly associated with its architectural history as well as with the history of the Towneley family. Parts of the history of the park are linked to documentation and archives, which forms part of the jargonistic language of professional academic historical study (Samuel 2012). The park and hall itself fit stylistically and symbolically with the idea of the stately home which has

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become, through the development of a heritage industry, synonymous with notions of Britishness and history (Hewison 1989) and forming part of an Authorised Heritage Discourse (Smith 2006).

Here I will focus on traditional notions of history and historical narrative, while the later sections of this chapter will address the everyday as history and heritage (the non- traditional). Traditional histories are those which are formed as a process of established academic historical language and epistemology – exclusive jargon as Samuel would put it (2012). A strong element of historical narrative comes through from my interview with P11, who discusses the layers of history in the park and how the park is linked to the history of Burnley:

I think the history of the place is important and linking the history of the place to the present day is important. It's all relevant, I think, to how the park is now and I think the layers of history, you know, if you look around knowing the history of the park, you can see everything from pre-Charles Towneley right through to municipal 1902 to now; you can see how the place evolved into a country estate and from a country estate into an urban park and I think it's really important to maintain that for people to see it. It's just living history really.

[P11 Initial Interview: 60-7] For P11, the historical qualities of the park are important, offering for him romantic notions of nostalgic pasts [P11 Initial Interview: 83] and he recounts some of its history:

If you cast your mind back [ ...] couple of hundred years ago Burnley wasn't like it is now. Towneley would have been literally a country estate and its only because the town has grown closer that it's now on the edge of the town centre really rather than a country estate and Cliviger's grown as well of course with Thanet Lee Close so it is now municipal; it is urban rather than rural as it would have been 200 years ago […] if you look at for example Burnley Wood is called Burnley wood for a reason presumably there was a wood there and it was part of the estate in the wider sense of the word, and then obviously the trees were felled, houses were built and the industrial revolution came along [...] I think from 1902 onwards [...] having a public park like Towneley at the time it was really socially important that was a real escape for people

[P11 Initial Interview: 111-5] We can see from P11's discussion that the historical stories of Towneley are important, but it is also worth noting that he uses a narrative style which is chronological in nature. As

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chosen a historical narrative which has much in common with traditional linear history. He sets a starting date of 200 years ago and tells a story of the development of Towneley Park which offers a characterisation of an industrialised landscape and people. While in many ways we may view this as a form of othering of past cultures (Said 1993; Hodder 1986), P11 moves on to say that he feels the park 'continues to be [important], I think, for people on low incomes in this area' [P11 Initial Interview: 125]. From this we can see that the historical narrative is being used to legitimise the park's continued use. P11 makes clear that there is an historical sequence of events which has resulted in the park being transformed over the years. Whereas P11 uses a chronological narrative, the use of the park space is nonetheless a very important aspect of the park. His narrative recounts the role it plays as a leisure location for families in the past and present; it seems apparent that, for P11, the park’s history is a process that continues today. As such, P11’s point of view mirrors Smith's (2006) approach to heritage by focusing on the use of the park as a defining quality.

This historical point of view is expressed further during our visit to the park. Sitting on Foldys Cross, P11 pointed out the view he enjoyed from the monument that allows him “quiet contemplation” [P11 Field Visit: 14]. It is the view of the hall which offers a strong-enough AHD landscape image of a stately home that for P11 : “it doesn't feel like you're in east Lancashire when doing that, it reminds me of a country estate in Buckinghamshire or something” [P11 Initial Interview: 89]. P5 and P14 discuss the same reaction to the view during our visit [P5 & P14 Field Visit: 133-5]. In this way, the park seems to act as a museum for some of the participants with Towneley Hall functioning as part of an exhibition, acting as a symbol of traditional heritage. It is worth pointing out here how P11 expresses a feeling of being in an alternative place to East Lancashire. Following Foucault (1986, 1998; also

Hetherington 2011), the hall within the park functions as a disruption to the normal social realm because it symbolises the wealth of an eliticised group and a time gone by. The hall and the park land around it originate from the wealth and agency of an aristocratic family. The park and its hall represent land ownership of the eliticised, something which is

embodied in an 18th _{Century Turner painting of the park (Figure 10) (Wells 2011). The}

combination of viewpoint, hall and associated histories generate a heterotopic effect and an emplacement charged with AHD meanings for P11. As Hetherington (2011) would argue, these factors together form a diagram that enables a discourse about the park in terms of

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AHD and traditional histories.

Figure 10: Towneley Hall 1799 [Source: Turner 2009]

This traditional historical narrative approach is reinforced by P11 as they invoke the authority of established artists like Turner, using Elgar and Constable as cultural reference points in the construction of his park meanings:

“There are no houses,” he explains, “it’s just countryside, and it makes me think of the Hay Wain – is it Turner? Or Constable? I can imagine Elgar looking out at [the landscape] and writing a symphony.”

[P11 Field Visit: 29-31]

These references to culture are linked to traditional notions of British culture, which

perpetuate patriarchal and eliticised landscape values (Wells 2011) and support an arbitrary eliticised cultural valuation system (Bourdieu 1993). This value is echoed by P14 who

considers the construction of wind turbines on the horizon as a destruction of the landscape [P14 Field Visit: 91-2].

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I'd say for myself that there's that sense of Englishness or Britishness that you can see in the park with the love of nature, the regard for history, of people

promenading and so on; it's part of that continuum whereby we see [a] sort of responsible, sort of civilised behaviour which keeps you in touch with your own environment and the good things about life

[P7 Initial Interview: 309-13]

P7 makes a clear link to values of nationalism and his narrative recalls a vision of park use that fits with the early twentieth century. His language has colonial undertones with the use of the words “promenading” and “civilised behaviour”. P5 and P14 identify the past uses of the park in similar terms, partly lamenting the loss of a sense of order and behaviour in times gone by. At the end of our visit, the Italian Garden near the Hall prompted P3 to compare the park to Chatsworth House, which would gratify the gardener whose manager uses

Chatsworth House as a yardstick. In several ways, the meanings and associations here are linked to AHD. The comparison with stately homes like Chatsworth House resonate with heritage meanings identified by Smith (2006) and Hewison (1989). Further, landscape and order are notions that fit well with the idea of the park as museum which must tame the wild (Gobster 2007). There is the imposition of order over chaos which may be linked to the positivistic epistemologies of the enlightenment that predominate and underpin

contemporary social structures of capitalism and neoliberalism; we may analogise this to Bourdieu’s (1993) notion that established systems of education perpetuate cultural values and structures of power. In this way, some of the meanings expressed by participants are a rejection of non-western and subaltern histories or cultural practices – e.g. the ‘uncivilised’ and ‘unordered’ use of the park by young people and the general public whose behaviour and value systems do not ally with the eliticised groups who are associated with places like Towneley Park.

Further examples of historical narrative were offered by P4 when he discussed being

involved in archaeological digs in the park. This topic was raised again during our visit to the park, when P4 pointed out the historical relevance of various parts of the park. For example, he mentioned a chapel that remained undiscovered despite archaeological digs in the park and he identified the route of the leet which used to feed Towneley Hall’s brew house. Here, P4 is using language from established epistemological approaches (Samuel 2012) in a similar way to P11. However, it is notable that neither P4 nor P11 discuss historical values of the

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park exclusively in terms of historical narrative. During the field visit, P4 articulated his knowledge of the dam near Boggart Bridge by moving around the bridge as though to pull knowledge from his performance in that space. In this way, he was engaging with historical knowledge through a process of spatial narrative (de Certeau 1988; Tilley 1994). At the end of P11’s field visit, the participant explained how he felt that people focused too much on the hall as the important part of the park and that the natural elements of the park have many other exciting things to offer [P11 Field Visit: 41-4]. The approaches of the two participants here mirror the notions that heritage spaces are not singular entities and that engaging with our environment involves multiple subjectivities (Dwyer, Schroeder & Gobster 1991; Schroeder 1996; Bandura 2001; Harvey & Riley 2005). The park is not monumental. Immediately afterwards, however, I note how P11 qualifies his statement:

However, he is careful to conclude his thought: “The hall is important to me, I guess, as a focal point.” I get the feeling that he doesn’t want to appear to be against the hall”

[P11 Field Visit: 45-7]

P11's status as a Council employee appears to be a factor in what he feels he can say. He may, after all, feel the need to justify his own role as it is linked to the public use of the park.

The public use of the park itself is linked to the history of the park and the story of Lady O’Hagan selling the grounds of Towneley to Burnley council in 1901. During the interviews, P4 [P4 Initial Interview: 356-8], P6 [P6 Initial Interview: 69-71] and P18 [P18 Initial Interview: 71-4] each mention the historical event of the sale of the park as a basis for its current communal use. As a member of the aristocratic Towneley family, the character of Lady O’Hagan allows the participants to frame the public use of the park in terms of an authorised heritage discourse. P4, P6 and P18 each engage in a narrative about the democratisation of access to the park space, which is underpinned and legitimised by the almost legendary story of Towneley Park’s sale. This traditional history of the park is used by the participants to authenticate the park’s role as a space for the people in terms of democratised access to sport [P4 Initial Interview], a symbol of free access and changing social power balances [P6 Initial Interview] and the access to nature and sustainable living for the benefit of the wider community [P18 Initial Interview]. The interviews seem to demonstrate the participants’

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awareness of the park’s role as part of an ongoing process of change (Smith 2006), from elite to municipal and from closed to open.

However, there is evidence that the participants engage in a nuanced view of the park. An awareness of the park undergoing processes of change suggests that they are aware of the many ways in which the park's meanings may be influenced. As such, Bourdieu's habitus (1977) works well as a model for the participants' own perceptions of the park. They are aware that traditional historical narratives have an impact on the role of the park, it

influences their perception of the park even as they engage with the park space on their own terms.

In many cases, participants supported this valuing of traditional histories with narratives that broadly engaged with notions of history or age. As one participant put it, the park is

interesting to them because ‘it's been there so long' [P23 Initial Interview: 104]. For these participants the age of the park alone, or parts of it, is impressive or notable:

We stop first at the boulder by the hall. He asks me if I know anything about the boulder and I say that I do not. He tells me that it comes from Read or Higham (nearby towns) and was dropped there by glacial activity many thousands of years ago.

[P4 Field Visit: 8-11]

one of the things is the fact that it’s been continually owned by the Towneleys since fifteen-something […] it's the continuity of it; the Towneleys owned it 400 years ago and we're still in touch with the Towneleys now

[P5 Initial Interview: 145-50] “She mentions the old oak tree, commenting on its age and how it was planted when Guy Fawkes was plotting to blow up the houses of parliament. She is impressed with this link to the past.”

[P20 Initial Interview: 61-3]

No, it is the history really though i'n't it, even though you might not read into it much it's nice to think “this has been here a long time” and just understanding that

somebody looks after it the way they do and that it's been there so long, just that really i'n't it?

[P23 Initial Interview: 102-5]

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These qualities of history seem to be associated with the Authorised Heritage Discourse and, as such, they express very similar meanings to P11’s more detailed understanding of the park’s history. As we will see below, participants are well aware of how the more recent history of the park is related to their own personal or family histories. However,

understandings of the park's history over a longer period rely on notable events. Thus the past tends to be punctuated by notable events that relate to the eliticised members of past society (Carr 1985; Samuel 2012; Smith 2006). This is demonstrated by P5 whose comments refer to the Towneleys as the common factor over the last four-hundred years of the park. P20's association of the tree with the past is linked to the AHD of the gunpowder plot, which is of course notable owing to its association with the attempted assassination of King James I and parliament (itself linked to an AHD cultural practice which underpins notions of British nationality and religion); an event which the tree did not witness or have any proximity to. Similarly, during P22's interview, the trees lining the driveway in the park were identified as honouring the soldiers of the Crimean War. P23's very abstract observation of the park's history further demonstrates the importance of links to the past even if they are not associated with anything specific. This non-specific notion of ‘time’ bringing value to

something is also expressed in P4’s awe at the glacial boulder and during the field visit with P20 the age of the trees alone is seen as significant as she wondered aloud “think about what they’ve seen” [P20 Field Visit: 63].

During the interview, P7 refers to even older notions of history in terms of the millions of years as he talks about his concerns for the pollution of crisp packets and plastic drinks bottles [P7 Initial Interview: 171-6]. These perceptions of the park’s longer history resonate with Harrison & O'Donnell's (2010) descriptions of 'wilderness' and 'nature' that require the absence of people (see also Tallack 2015). P4, P7 and P20 seem to be referring to a form of knowledge which transcends humankind because they refer to the timelessness of the landscape whether in terms of its past or its future. P20 seems to anthropomorphise the trees as observers of human society. These notions stem in part from geological knowledge of the ice age and the age of the Earth as well as knowledge of the age of trees, but they are also emotional and spiritual reactions which demonstrate the multiple ways in which

historical meaning may accrue for people and places. This mixture of positivistic (Massey