Experiencing Heritage at a World Heritage Site: Personal encounters with Hadrian's Wall

Abstract

Public and personal heritage are significant factors in people's encounters with Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site and some of the driving motivations for enduring associations with the area. This paper explores individuals’ personal encounters with heritage, using research from Hadrian's Wall to reflect on the nature of such experiences. It investigates personal and collective relationships with the ancient monument by studying participants’ heritage experiences using photo‐elicitation. Public heritage is the chosen representation of heritage at a place. Unmanaged heritage, that is the everyday practices of those who are, or are not, involved in heritage tourism of an area, is often overlooked. Heritage experiences are explained here as personal journeys of involvement in the place and the heritage of that place (Dicks, 2002). The paper adapts and develops Howard's (2003) concept of ‘insidedness’ relating to the experiential nature of heritage and its situated meaning to the individual to create a more detailed typology of heritage and emotional involvement. It is suggested that active engagement then motivates further involvement, contributing to a personal sense of belonging and collective identity.