VIRTUAL: Prague Heritages

Abstract

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This paper explores the concept of cultural value through the lens of coastal heritage. The discussion examines cultural values amongst users and non-users of built Victorian heritage, over time, as space and in place. It considers the significance of the coastal landscape in creating a sense of place for communities and visitors through a case-study of Great Yarmouth in the East of England. The Winter Gardens stand derelict. A Victorian steel and glass structure first constructed on a hill in Torquay and later transported by sea to be resurrected on the seafront of Great Yarmouth. A space continuously re-purposed to function for business, leisure, and pleasure. Over 120-years the building has acted as an attraction and after 20 years of closure, now faces a major capital transformation. The focus on place in heritage-led regeneration, the creative industries and museums, and the UK Levelling-Up policy is bringing further nuance to cultural value discourse. The methodology for this multi-disciplinary study involves the analysis for denotations of cultural value in historical archives and associated documentation, past and present including more recent policy, press and social media. It concludes that historical buildings can be liminal places and therefore the value is transitionary and individually experienced. In cultural policy, research and discourse, people-centred methodologies are required to understand the emotional bonds and possibilities of being that can be evoked through a combination of built and natural heritage within regional coastal landscapes.