The heritage of Tyneham as a living memorial: between complex historical narratives and suggestive performing traditions

Abstract

Tyneham was a farming and fishing village in Dorset, with a history extending over nine centuries, and human habitation dating back 2,500 years. However, in 1943 the village, and its wider surrounding area, was transformed after being requisitioned to serve as a training ground for tank soldiers during the Second World War. Consequently, Tyenham’s landscape evolved, but the remaining structures still describe the life of this pre-industrial community. While the village is now a major tourist destination attracting thousands of visitors, it remains within a live tank-firing range. Tyneham is a living memorial, relevant to current discourses of heritage preservation and community engagement. To reveal its dynamic nature a mixed methodology was used: literature and historic archives’ review, observations by visitors, the Tyneham village group posts review and students’ engagement to understand the value of Tyneham as a palimpsest of identity, conflict, memory and universal narratives – personal, communal and imagined. The historic transformation of the site’s ownership and its shifting narratives sometimes strongly contrast with each other. At present, the site is owned by the military but displayed narratives exclude its perspective. Can inclusive performing practices transform the site from a place of conflict to a place of reconciliation and education? Parallels with the historic performative traditions of ancient Greece and Japanese Noh theatre are noted to suggest a dynamic heritage space. This article highlights how a contested site could become a living memorial by encouraging visitors’ imaginations to engage in aspects of a story that are constantly being reinvented.