HSHAZ Heritage Working Group

Hexham High Street Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ) – Heritage Working Group
(HWG)

Aims
(HSHAZ) The aim of the Hexham HSHAZ scheme is: ‘to revitalise Hexham’s historic town centre making it a more attractive, engaging and vibrant place for people to live, work, invest and visit’. This will be achieved through the local objectives below, which all link into national programme outcomes:

1. Deliver improvements that lead to the removal of the ‘at risk’ status of the Conservation Area, including building repairs, increasing custodianship and maintenance of Hexham’s heritage assets
2. Revitalise the HSHAZ area by increasing occupancy, reducing voids & bringing floorspace back into use
3. Enhance the physical condition, distinctiveness and attraction of the town centre through improved quality of streetscape & public realm
4. Support economic recovery post Covid-19 by encouraging footfall, dwell time and spend in the town centre enhancing long-term sustainability & protecting jobs
5. Stimulate and accelerate commercial investment to create economic growth in the town centre
6. Engage the local community to shape, participate and deliver plans & activities
7. Increase knowledge, interest & appreciation of the town’s heritage & culture

(HWG) The aim is to create a working group (or groups) to draw together a wide cross section of local people who have enthusiasm, knowledge and skills that can guide the development of key heritage activities that will encourage participation and engagement in revitalising and maintaining the town centre.

They will undertake historical research about the high street to enrich our understanding of it, to foster a sense of civic pride and to create a legacy for the scheme. This will serve to meet outcomes 5 and 6 of the HSHAZ programme.

Method
There are a number of activities which the HWG could support. In particular;

Activity One – Developing a resource library (digital and physical) including documents, images, collections, artefacts and records relating to the town centre, particularly Priestpopple, Market Street and Cattle Market, key trading families (if applicable) and buildings listed under task three.

The physical resources will be made available to the public via displays, possibly in Queens Hall and/or the Abbey and in vacant shop fronts along the high street. They will create a legacy for the HSHAZ and be held in perpetuity by the library or Northumberland Archives. The digital resources will be made available to the public by becoming part of the HLHS digital records.

Activity Two – Imaginative temporary displays in empty shop windows and local facilities. Further to the displays resulting from Task One, displays on specific imaginative themes are to be created and displayed for public consumption.

The only specified theme is ‘The Changing Streetscape of the High Street’ and we are open to suggestions for other themes and would suggest ‘Transport on the high street throughout the 20th century’ as an example.

Activity Three – Enrich the List
This task serves to improve the listed entries and records held by Historic England on all listed buildings and non-designated heritage assets on the high street. The listed buildings and NDHAs are:

4a Battle Hill	Grade 2 listed building 1042603
4 Battle Hill	Grade 2 listed building
1 & 1a Battle Hill	Grade 2 listed building 1370772
3-5 Battle Hill	Grade 2 listed building
9 Battle Hill	Grade 2 listed building
24-26 Priestpopple	Grade 2 listed building
23 Priestpopple	Grade 2 listed building
31 Market Place	Grade 2 listed building
33 Market Place	Grade 2 listed building
2 Battle Hill	Grade 2 listed building
Priestpopple House	Grade 2* listed building
27 Priestpopple	Grade 2 listed building
22 Priestpopple	Grade 2 listed building
10-12 Battle Hill Excelsior Building	NDHA
1 Battle Hill	NDHA
8 Battle Hill	NDHA 1370775

Historic England are offering direct support on this task, and we will have further details shortly on how our research is best added to the details already held.

Nevertheless, Historic England’s records are in the public domain and work to enhance them can be undertaken now. However, individual researchers are requested not to create their own account and upload to the HE site until further advice is received as this may result in our consolidated HSHAZ input not being acknowledged.

Activity Four – Develop a Digital Heritage Trail
We will commission a digital media specialist to create an app and web based digital heritage trail of the high street and the wider Hexham conservation area based on the heritage knowledge of the HWG. The target for completion of this task is March 2022.

Activity Five – Working with Schools Across all Project Areas
Engaging young people in the heritage of their town will enhance the legacy of the HSHAZ. The HSHAZ Senior Programme Officer will speak to the heads of the local schools to create an engagement programme best suited to their students and curriculum.

It is anticipated that setting activities following on from a talk/lecture from someone with local history knowledge will give the best results.

Current intention is to ask primary age students to design the high street of 2122 and to ask secondary age learners to write a 500-word story based in Hexham in 1922.