Heritage Science Collections Hub: South

Fort Cumberland, Portsmouth is one of the finest examples of 18th century, pentagonal-shaped, bastion forts in England. It is a scheduled monument and incorporates Grade II & II* listed buildings. It is also home to Fort Cumberland Laboratories which contain internationally important reference collections and an array of analytical and imaging equipment in laboratories dedicated to Environmental Archaeology, Human Skeletal Remains, and Materials and Conservation Science, each run by a team of experts.

Both the City of Portsmouth and Fort Cumberland are currently being reimagined with a view to major investment to transform them. Imagine Portsmouth 2040 envisages a "centre of culture and enterprise" whilst the Fort Cumberland Masterplan team highlight that it "... is a very special place... until now, mostly hidden from view in every way...we want to explore how we open it up".

It is within the context of these initiatives that Historic England seeks RICHeS funding to create a Heritage Science Collections Hub: South, a national centre of excellence for inter-disciplinary investigation, expert training, and public participation in heritage science. The objectives of the project are to:

In partnership with Portsmouth Museums, review the reference collections we hold to optimise their care, maximize their research potential, and ensure their long-term preservation. This review will ensure that we have the right collections in the right place, co-located with specialists undertaking research and who are training the next generation of heritage scientists.

It will take account of the Future for Archaeological Archives Programme (FAAP) and our role as collector of last resort in saving Collections at Risk. The review will inform our future needs for collection storage and curation and help identify investment needs and design solutions for their long-term care, aligned with HE's Carbon Reduction Plan and UKRI's draft Concordat for the Environmental Sustainability of Research and Innovation Practice.

Upgrade collections stores and curatorial facilities to transform our aging infrastructure and ensure we can care for our collections properly, compliant with current regulations. It will include major refurbishment of our Skeleton Preparation Facility and the upgrading of collections storage within the main laboratories to provide more appropriate conditions with better protection from fluctuations in temperature and relative humidity; an increasing challenge for all workplaces as we adapt to climate change.

Expand and improve access to our collections. For collections to be truly valued they need to be used, whether for high-quality historic environment research or trans-disciplinary research with impact beyond it; training resources to develop skills and practitioners; or to offer new opportunities for volunteers, and in so doing attract a broader and more diverse range of individuals and communities to get involved in heritage activities.

We seek to expand and improve access to our collections such that they are no longer hidden away but available for everyone to enjoy and learn from. Investment in a dedicated collections Access Manager will mean we can open our collections to more people.

Furthermore, by partnering with Sheffield and Aberdeen Universities we will be able to form sister collections hubs, ensuring that heritage science equipment, expertise and resources are accessible to the sector across the UK, and creating communities of practice for our own and our partners' technical staff, building future capacity and resilience.