As part of the Arbroath Heritage Exhibition ‘The Making of a Pageant 1947-2021’ we have been working with members of the academic research group The Redress of the Past. A major Arts and Humanities Research Council funded project examining historical pageants in twentieth-century Britain.
The Redress of the Past website and database, is the only dedicated port-of-call for all things related to historical pageants. Drawing on oral and written evidence, the project offers key insights into the role of heritage in leisure activities, the interaction between local, national and imperial identities, and the changing character of community life in twentieth and early twenty-first century Britain. It reveals the stories that communities and institutions told about themselves through historical pageantry, an immensely popular and all too often overlooked way in which many people engaged with their pasts.