‘The aerodrome’: Art, heritage and landscape at former RAF Coltishall

Abstract

English Heritage and others are often called upon to record historic aviation sites, along with a range of other comparable (in scale and complexity) former military and industrial places. Recording typically takes place once the site is abandoned and prior to its redevelopment. RAF Coltishall (Norfolk, UK) presented a rare opportunity to record the site while it remained in use, and to continue to record it during the period of drawdown and closure; to watch as things were packed away and as families left. This seemed too good an opportunity to miss, and to take full advantage English Heritage decided to share the task, gathering together a team of artists and archaeologists whose interests were focused on the types of material culture and methodological issues which

'The Technological Sublime': Combining Art and Archaeology in Documenting Change at the Former RAF Coltishall (Norfolk, UK)

“…This would allow the creation of both individual records of the site as well as a more collaborative or at least collective output. A previous publication reports on the latter (Schofield et al 2012). Here we focus on the former.…”

“…Strategically located 10 miles (16km) north-east of Norwich, close to England's east coast and near the village where many of the station's officers lived (and in many cases also later retired), Coltishall served as a fighter station throughout the Second World War, later becoming a base for night fighters and then ground-attack aircraft until its closure in 2006. The history and character of the site is described in some detail elsewhere (Cocroft and Cole 2007;Schofield et al 2012). Here we wish to emphasise the social fabric.…”

“…Secondly, it fitted in with our approach of trying to be objective, to see the world as it is, accepting reality and not trying to embellish it for the sake of art. (Personal communication) In a way that's what happened at Coltishall, albeit with archaeologists and artists operating together under the aegis of an archaeological study of a fast-changing historic landscape (and for a more detailed account of the rationale and the wider project, see Schofield et al 2012).…”

‘Last Drinks at the Hibernian’: practice-led research into art and archaeology

“…For the most part, however, Australian archaeologists have ignored developments that have occurred in the USA, UK and Europe in applying creative arts and participatory practices to the investigation of archaeology and heritage (e.g. Schofield et al 2012;Schofield 2006;Russell and Cochrane 2014). It is not our intention here to discuss why this might be the case; but if practice-led enquiry is 'a third species of research', and a 'new paradigm' complementing quantitative and qualitative methods, then it is time for us to give it deeper consideration.…”

“…Recent decades have seen the emergence of critical interventions in archaeological thought and process through a range of creative forms including performance, installation, exhibition and re-enactment. The degree of participation and collaboration has expanded dramatically in the UK and USA where artists have been invited to collaborate on site-specific projects and contribute to archaeology and heritage narratives (Bailey 2014a;Schofield 2007;Schofield et al 2012;Wickstead 2009). At the same time, archaeologists have implemented new approaches to archaeological investigation by initiating novel strategies of analysis, interpretation and communication (Bender et al 2008;Holtorf 2004).…”