Impact case study database

Imprint demonstrated how medieval history can play a crucial role in furthering both a scientific and heritage agenda. Its analysis of medieval hand and finger prints led to a more nuanced understanding of medieval society, expanded heritage conservation and informed current developments in fingerprint analysis. More specifically, the impact of the research has been twofold:

Whilst working with scientists to examine the handprints on the back of medieval wax seals, Imprint had an impact upon forensic science practice and on the development of forensic equipment. As a result of the research, the forensic partners on the Imprint project, Forensic Focus, discovered new information about the way in which fingerprints survive, and can be identified, upon wax mixed with different chemical components. One of the company’s objectives had been to see:

‘if there was any learning to be gained regarding distortion in the seal impressions. It became clear that after assessing the first batches of impressions … that distortion of the impressions was not really a factor. The reason [being] that the wax proved to be a good medium for recording palm (or finger) friction ridge detail, so distortion was not an issue’ [5.1]

The company also noted how Imprint had furthered forensic knowledge of palm prints and how it had been ‘one of the largest studies of palm impressions ever conducted’ [5.1].

Furthermore, Imprint’s use of the multispectral Crime-lite Imager (CLI) – designed for crime-scene analysis – in unusual circumstances allowed the equipment’s creators, Foster & Freeman Ltd, to discover more about the way the equipment worked in different environments, and enabled them to make significant improvements to both the hardware and software of the CLI. The company noted how the project had ‘highlighted … issues that we could not have foreseen from our own in-house tests. The resultant modifications have been implemented and will help improve the usability and stability of the system’ [5.2]. The project’s use of the CLI also furthered forensic science practice:

‘Without doubt the most significant factor potentially affecting current Forensic Science was the use for the first time of the Crime Lite Imager …. Up until this point finger marks specialists had struggled to obtain images of whole marks across curved surfaces in a single image relying on digital technology by taking several images at various locations and then stitching them together thus producing an approximate image rather than an accurate one. The digital imager enables a single image to be taken of the mark because of the advanced lighting function of the system. This practical use of technology … was an extremely useful tool which led to its wider distribution for Forensic Imagery’ [5.1].

In expanding heritage preservation and interpretation by informing practices in archives and conservation and in enriching public understanding

Imprint worked with its partner heritage institutions to expand professional knowledge of their collections and help develop outreach utilising the historical significance of seals. New ran a series of knowledge-transfer and training workshops for heritage professionals (some of which were open to the general public) during the course of the project and also in 2019, including events supported by the Archives and Records Association (ARA), Museums Wales and the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS). Feedback from the events evidence New’s impact on professional practice and ways of working with medieval seals. At a session for archivists held at Shropshire Archives in November 2019, all attendees agreed that the event had changed their approach to conserving sealed documents [5.3]. The Secretary of ARA West Midlands reflected on how ‘we will use the information to help us to better catalogue any seals we come across in the future’ [5.4]. A session held in Yorkshire in September 2019 evoked similar responses, with all attendees agreeing that it had led them to think differently about medieval seals and that they would subsequently change their approach to seals in their care. One participant remarked how they had ‘learned new practical ways of handling and caring for seals and will look at them in a totally new way’ [5.5]. Comparable feedback was also gleaned from a workshop in North Wales (November 2019), with all those who attended agreeing that New’s ideas had led them to think differently about their ways of working with seals [5.6].

Further workshops delivered by New in Oxford (May 2019, September 2019) also attest to her impact on archival practice. The archivist at Lincoln College, Oxford, noted how, on the basis of one of New’s presentations, she had ‘begun to develop … procedures for cataloguing the seals in Lincoln’s collections … based on the information in the Imprint database’. She also added that New’s advice on the method for the preparation of sealing wax had inspired a series of workshops for primary schools where pupils were tasked with producing their own seal. ‘It is inspiring’, she stated, ‘to see cutting-edge technology shed new light on some of the oldest and most mysterious items surviving in our collections’ [5.7]. The Archivist at Magdalen College, Oxford, also observed how New’s research had ‘impacted positively on my work as an Archivist’. Previously the archivist at Hereford Cathedral, she also noted how New had led her to ‘to review Hereford’s own system of housing seals and to recommend changes better in line with best practice’ [5.8].

Imprint’s involvement with Exeter Cathedral Library and Archives also further demonstrated the project’s impact on heritage preservation:

‘The Imprint project has improved in-house knowledge of the sealed documents in the L&A [Library and Archives], which will remain as a permanent legacy …. New information was revealed about many which … lead to catalogue improvements and influenced conservation decisions. Prior to the project a number of documents did not even have the presence of seals included in the original catalogue. Seals are now formally recognised for their importance in complement to the written text of a document. The conservation implications of involvement with Imprint have been large and entirely positive’ [5.9].

New’s own work with both Exeter and Hereford Cathedrals also led to impact on heritage preservation in another important way. During Imprint, the CLI was used to uncover new information about significant cultural items including the Exeter Book (which has UNESCO Memory of the World status), the Exon Domesday (one of the most informative surviving documents of the Domesday Inquest), and the Hereford Gospels (the oldest surviving manuscript produced in Wales), enabling a recalibration of key archival material and ‘otherwise obscured text’ to be revealed [5.9].

Both prior to and within Imprint, New also worked with The National Archives (TNA) at Kew, which has also greatly expanded heritage conservation, informing TNA practices relating to their wax seal collections:

‘The research work of Elizabeth New … has provided a rich resource that we have continuously turned to for information regarding the material make-up and relevance of our wax seal collections, as well as for guidance in decision-making around their care and access. Elizabeth’s work on wax seals is of significant value for the heritage conservation community in understanding the materials, methods, and practices used in creating these objects in the past, with a view to finding the most appropriate methods for their preservation today’ [5.10].

New has also engaged with broader audiences through public talks and media (broadcast and print). She ran lectures at the project’s partner institutions, including at Exeter and Hereford Cathedrals (2016 and 2018) and at the Society of Antiquaries (April 2017, available on YouTube). New’s research has also reached new audiences through popular publications, including BBC History Magazine (January 2016) and New Scientist (December 2016), and podcasts including for BBC History [5.11], all of which have drawn important attention to the fact that Imprint provided free access on its website to a hitherto inaccessible area of medieval life and work.