Impact case study database

CAU’s impact is rooted in long-term engagement with archaeological research and stakeholders in eastern England. Developing impact is a cornerstone of the Unit’s research strategy, with far-reaching contributions to education, the arts, development and industry. Must Farm and Eddington provide important examples.

1. Educational Pathways and Impacts (Must Farm)

Investigations at Must Farm in 2015 to 2016 were promoted proactively, capturing extensive press attention: television (e.g. BBC, ITV, CNN), documentaries (e.g. BBC4, PBS), radio (e.g. BBC R4) and print (e.g. Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post) [E1]. The project adopted an active social media policy [E2,E3]. As of July 2020, its Facebook page had 22,971 followers and a total post reach of 4,563,976. Its Twitter account had 6,792 followers and its content made 3,938,979 Impressions. Seven post-excavation videos about Must Farm’s textiles have been viewed 101,662 times and attracted almost 500 comments [E3]. Must Farm’s social media impact is indicated by strong viewer engagement. The number of engaged Facebook users (who interacted with page content) was 381,292 between September 2015 and July 2020. Evaluation of 4,361 comments on Facebook posts between October 2015 and August 2016 indicates that the project inspired archaeological thinking among the general public, with followers asking informed questions and suggesting interpretations (e.g. regarding the function of artefacts) [E2].

CAU’s engagement with Peterborough Museum, where the site archive will be deposited, has had important educational impacts. A Must Farm exhibition (May to September 2017) attracted 27,884 visitors, ‘ by far the highest average number of visitors per month’ among the museum’s temporary exhibitions [E4]. Evaluation-form feedback shows that visitors left informed about archaeological finds from the local area. Thanks to connections made while engaging with Cambridge University, this local museum is now supported nationally through partnerships with the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, leading to the development of major exhibitions such as Treasures (25 August 2018 to 6 January 2019) [E4]. Moreover, as a result of working on Must Farm materials, museum staff across all areas have undertaken professional skills development, resulting in workforce upskilling [E4].

CAU’s research and impact activities have embedded knowledge of Must Farm and archaeology nationally; evidence ranges from political caricature to the site being named by Historic England (HE) as one of the top 10 archaeological discoveries of the decade (Figure 1) [E1]. Moreover, Must Farm is now included in HE’s national curriculum teaching provision, with an online education pack for Key Stage 2 [E5] and a recommendation for its inclusion in Key Stage 4 (GCSE) Biology and Combined Science [E6].

Figure 1. Must Farm has propelled knowledge of archaeology into British daily life. Left: The Daily Telegraph (13 January 2016) deploys it to portray Jeremy Corbyn as a voice from the past [E1]; Right: CAU staff pictured in coverage of Historic England’s top 10 finds of the decade (BBC News, 28 December 2019) [E1].

The project’s impact is widely recognised. In 2016, Must Farm was awarded Best Archaeological Discovery at the British Archaeological Awards. In 2017, it was named Rescue Project of the Year, and Mark Knight Archaeologist of the Year, by Current Archaeology, a popular magazine with 45,000 readers [E1]. In May 2020, a project publication [R1] received the Antiquity prize [E1].

2. Contributions to the Arts (Must Farm and Eddington)

Must Farm and Eddington generated new artistic outputs, directions and career opportunities for artists. With CAU collaboration, artist Laura Wilson ‘ developed new artworks on a far more ambitious scale than I have ever attempted before’ [E7]. In 2017, she collaborated with CAU in an Arts Council-funded project having Must Farm as focus. Wilson received GBP25,000 towards the performance piece and film Deepening, performed at the Must Farm quarry and shown at Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery (from 18th January 2020 until COVID lockdown). ‘ Working with CAU, hearing about and experiencing their research firsthand, has changed the way in which I think about landscapes ... [and] pushed my work in new directions which I could not have imagined two years ago’ [E7]. Collaboration on Deepening ‘ led to new professional opportunities’ [E7], including commissions for the Usher Gallery and The Collection (Lincoln).

The arts practice Somewhere were artists in residence with CAU at the Eddington development (May 2013 to April 2014). Work with CAU was a ‘ very positive collaboration and experience’ resulting in a public art project at Eddington ‘ engaging with the transient nature of the site and this fleeting, unique archaeological access to the past’ [E8]. In May and June of 2014, with 60 volunteers, they created an on-site 12.5 scale cob model of the development (Figure 2). Volunteers included individuals supported by Inclusion Drug and Alcohol Service, Riverside English Churches Housing Group and Cambridge City Council Streetchamps. All responded that the experience was overwhelmingly positive (e.g. ‘ life changing for me’) [E8].

Since February 2014, Somewhere have run a follow-on project, Prospection, documenting ‘ the evolution of the new Eddington community’; it creates an annual ‘finds box’ of records, deposited with Cambridgeshire Archives [E8]. In September 2014, Kettle’s Yard Gallery invited a major Somewhere exhibition, including work with CAU. Inspired by their archaeological experiences, the artists have since collaborated with the British Museum on its project ResearchSpace and created new artworks by distilling soil samples – leading to a touring show for the UN Year of Soil and artistic fellowships with the National Trust and UCL [E8].

Figure 2. The CAU-inspired cob model of Eddington, by the arts practice Somewhere and 60 volunteers (images: Nina Pope) [E8].

3. Contributions to Development and Industry (Must Farm and Eddington)

In January 2020, a masterplan for Whittlesey’s development was released by Fenland District Council and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority. Must Farm is recognised as ‘ a precious town asset’ and ‘ a majority of people felt that Bronze Age heritage should be promoted as a tourist attraction’ [E9]. Of the masterplan’s eight recommendations, two are for a new heritage centre and a heritage walk. Following approval of the Market Towns Programme Investment Prospectus in June 2020, Whittlesey is now invited to bid for funding from the Combined Authority for these initiatives [E9].

CAU’s work with Forterra at Must Farm has led to changes in quarrying. With 2000 staff at 24 sites, Forterra is among the UK’s largest heavy buildings products manufacturers. The Head of Land & Mineral Resources [E10] notes that it now acts with ‘ enhanced awareness and foresight during our quarrying’, recognising ‘ the enormous potential of this archaeological resource’. Further, ‘ CAU’s inclusion of “outreach” … and wider community involvement via social media, as part of the research design, has provided Forterra with an improved insight into the interest and importance of local history to the communities in which it is found’, causing a ‘ change of perspective in our organization’. Forterra is ‘ now much more aware of the potential of archaeology in helping us be a “good neighbour’’ to the communities in which we operate’.

At Eddington, CAU’s research ‘ informed and inspired’ the new 150 hectare sustainable community of 3,000 homes, accommodation for 2,000 students, a school, a community centre, shops, a care village and sports facilities; ‘ knowledge of the underlying archaeology supplied by CAU has been used to inform aspects of the built form and layout on the site’, such as with the Roman villa, the incorporation of which is being planned [E11]. ‘ Moreover, CAU’s outreach work … has been an important mechanism for community engagement with the whole project’. Drawing on the Unit’s research on the Cambridge Observatory, ‘ even the name of the new community, Eddington, was suggested by Christopher Evans’ [E11].