A Village School in the City? Urban transition and School Heritage

Summary

Schools are a key component of urbanism, places where the regulatory apparatus of the state reaches into the lives of families. High density, busy, with ever shifting power politics creating spaces of fear and safety; creativity and control. In many ways they are hyper-urban. The establishment of Board Schools at the end of the 19th century in Britain coincides with the expansion of coastal cites such as Portsmouth. Throughout the 20th century ideology has been explicitly and publicly expressed through their architecture. But they are intensely intimate and personal spaces as well. School Managers, teachers, children and even parents rework and challenge the larger narratives the school was built for. This paper draws on a community heritage project designed to support change within two Portsmouth schools. It considers place making and memory to explore how the urban transition was experienced in this context.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• In the City: archaeology and the personal experience of urban transition   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 371