Our Heritage, Our Stories
About Our Heritage, Our Stories
Our Heritage Our Stories is a 2-year project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project is helping local communities to research, celebrate, promote and protect heritage in their local areas. It is also helping to support research and access to historic sites and collections across the district. The aim of the project is to support more people and communities to tell their stories, and to celebrate the huge wealth and diversity of heritage that makes the Wakefield District what it is today.
Project Updates
Heritage Network
A key part of the Our Stories project is to support the development of a Wakefield Local Heritage Network, working with heritage and community partners from across the district. Our heritage is such an important part of who we are, and how we relate to the places that we live.
Heritage can be objects, documents and buildings, but it can also be shared events, stories and crafts. If you are part of a group who has an interest in any sort of heritage within the district, however big or small, we would love to hear from you.
Get in touch at heritage@wakefield.gov.uk and tell us more about what you do, and the historic stories, spaces, and places that matter to you and your community.
Civic Art Appraisal
Civic Art Appraisal. The Our Stories project is funding an appraisal of the Wakefield Civic Art collection. This includes mayoral portraits and artworks, some dating back to the 1700s. A report on the collection is due to be completed later in the year. The research is being supported by local heritage partners, including Wakefield Museums and Castles and the Wakefield Historical Society.
Heritage Open Days
Heritage Open Days is an annual national festival that celebrates the UK’s heritage. Every September thousands of volunteers arrange events that allow people to access and explore local heritage sites, stories and spaces, including lots of events across Wakefield District. We are encouraging as many people as possible to get involved. If you would like to get involved in Heritage Open Days but need some inspiration or support please let us know. You can also find out more on the Heritage Open Days website.
Blog Articles
Throughout the Our Stories project we will be sharing blogs about the project, and about different aspects of Wakefield’s heritage. Some are co-produced or written by community members about their own heritage projects and research in the district.
Read some of the recent blog articles:
- Wakefield Missing Pieces | Experience Wakefield
- Our Heritage, Our Stories: Performance | Experience Wakefield
- Wakefield Heritage Open Days 2024 | Experience Wakefield
- Wakefield's Textile Heritage | Experience Wakefield
- Heritage Walks around Wakefield | Experience Wakefield
- Culture of Coal: Wakefield’s Stories | Experience Wakefield
Films
As part of the Our Stories project, we will be producing a series of short films to celebrate aspects of Wakefield’s heritage, and the local people who are involved in protecting and celebrating that heritage.
This film was created by Wakefield film maker Nick Singleton to mark the shared 100-year and 60-year anniversaries of the Wakefield Historical Society and Wakefield Civic Society during Our Year.
This film celebrates the cultural organisations across Wakefield district who celebrated key anniversaries during Our Year - Wakefield District 2024.