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.

in collaboration with Wellcome Collection, London and the Teylers Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands (between 2017 and 2019). The exhibition was shown in London, Manchester and Haarlem and attracted over 350,000 visitors. The Science Museum Group noted that Morus’s contribution to the development of the exhibition had been ‘influential’ and that he had ‘directly informed the exhibition content’.

‘[His] involvement… informed conversations and opened up different avenues for exploration in developing the narrative for the first exhibition venue ... His research into Ferranti encouraged the curators to include objects from the Science Museum Group collection in the exhibition at Wellcome Collection. This narrative was expanded in the exhibition when it was displayed at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester…. As internationally significant organisations, it was important to the three exhibition partners that Electricity: The Spark of Life reflected significant current academic research, particularly that carried out by Iwan Rhys Morus’ [5.1].

The Wellcome Collection also attest to the significance of Morus’s contribution, noting how his ‘work into the spectacle of electricity in the Edwardian and Victorian period was highly influential in the manifestation of the exhibition’ [5.2]. Reviews featured in the national press, including The Telegraph and The Guardian [5.3].

Morus was invited to contribute to a range of media productions on TV and radio. Especially significant was his contribution to BBC4’s popular series Victorian Sensations (May 2019), Radio 4’s Great Lives (January 2018) and S4C’s Dibendraw (May 2015) in which he provided new frameworks for understanding past futures. The Producer of Dibendraw (a Welsh-language series aimed at discussing current scientific challenges with reference to historical achievements) described Morus’s contribution to the success of the series as ‘invaluable’ and noted how his expertise had been ‘crucial in influencing and shaping … content’. Indeed, the first series was commissioned as a result of a pilot filmed with Morus. ‘His ideas and views often inform the narrative of my programming, allowing me to explore new ways of showcasing the reconstructions and spectacles of the past’ [5.4]. Similarly, the Executive Producer of BBC4’s popular Victorian Sensations, a series examining late-Victorian technology, also noted how Morus’s research ‘had a decisive impact on the series proposal’. He noted how discussions with Morus allowed for a more focused narrative for the series and ‘it was this revised treatment that was commissioned by BBC FOUR…. I put the director of the first programme in touch with Iwan. They consulted further, and Iwan’s book Nikola Tesla and the Electrical Future was used as part of the research’. Crucially, he remarked how Morus’s ‘involvement was decisive in getting the series commissioned’ [5.5]. The series was again made available on iPlayer in January 2021.

Morus has also engaged with broader audiences through public talks, shows and media. Adopting the fictional persona of Professor Marmaduke Salt of the Royal Panopticon of Practical Science, Morus has performed his Victorian Scientific Futures show at a number of venues, including at the British Science Festival (September 2013), the National Eisteddfod (August 2017), the York Festival of Ideas (June 2018), the Aberystwyth Steampunk Spectacular (October 2017 and 2018), and at the National Trust’s Llanerchaeron estate (August 2019). The show recreates a Victorian scientific lecture with spectacular experiments with the aim of both introducing new audiences to Victorian views of their own future (and our present) and develop public awareness about the ways in which we think of our own futures today. The Aberystwyth Steampunk Spectacular noted how Morus had:

‘delighted audiences with his lectures as Professor Marmaduke Salt. The Professor, suitably dressed for the occasions brings a range of exciting demonstrations to the attending public on the latest Victorian discoveries…. The event proved so successful that attendance numbers doubled in the second year of the event, with numbers attending from across the UK’ [5.6].

Feedback from the National Trust event also evidence Morus’s impact on the visitor experience:

‘Professor Marmaduke Salt's performance … truly captured the spirit and excitement of scientific discovery in the nineteenth century. Visitors were treated to an engaging lecture on how electricity jump-started a new industry, creating a lasting fascination with novel inventions, remedies and a new electrified way of life. One of the highlights was the use of an original Victorian electric shock therapy machine which gave participants quite a thrill!... It is one thing for visitors to read information, but actually seeing inventions working and having the science behind them elucidated by an energetic speaker helped to fire the imaginations of our visitors and brought the whole fascinating period in history alive’ [5.7].

Morus has also delivered public lectures on aspects of the history of the future and its relevance to contemporary debates about pressing cultural and technological concerns such as AI and the climate emergency. He has lectured at the Hay Festival (May 2017), the National Eisteddfod (August 2017), the Waterfront Museum Swansea (October 2018), and TEDx Aberystwyth (November 2018). His talks bring to life key historical figures. Recent collaboration with the Wales Hydrogen Trade Association for example introduced new audiences to ‘the Father of the fuel cell’, William Robert Grove, and Wales's role in the emerging hydrogen economy. The organisation’s co-ordinator noted how Morus’s work had:

‘inspired the Wales Hydrogen Trade Association to hire an actor to play the role of Grove at our launch in February 2020. This was well received by an audience drawn from industry, government and academia; many of whom would otherwise know little or nothing about Grove. The … Association will continue to look to Iwan as the pre-eminent source of information on Grove to inspire our own emerging story’ [5.8].

Morus’s research has also reached further audiences through print media. He has published widely in popular publications such as Aeon (December 2014, August 2016, March 2018) and The Conversation (October 2017, July 2018, October 2018) [5.9]. His essays for The Conversation have garnered a total readership in excess of 170,000 (to date). The number of reads for the most recent essay far exceeded the average for the UK and the article was shared 938 times on Facebook. His October 2017 essay was re-published by several websites, including by the World Economic Forum [5.10]. His Aeon posts (combined) have been shared 3,555 times on Facebook.