Taunton’s Empty Shop Project is Heralded Great Success

Monday, 29 March 2010 15:41

Exceeding all expectations, more than 4,000 people visited the shop to look at exhibitions, take part in workshops and share their thoughts and memories of the town.

Highlights of the project included the BBC’s History of the World event which had people queuing out the door to bring artefacts for expert examination, the ‘Taunton’s Past’ wall full of photos and memories brought in by the public, walking tours which explained how regeneration will transform Taunton, an exciting public art collage focusing on river and rail routes around Somerset, the launch of the ‘through different eyes’ book compiled by students of Castle School, as well as family heritage sessions, discovering family trees, playing traditional music and even a willow sculpture session.

The final day of the project attracted more than 500 visitors.  In addition to the activities in the shop, crowds gathered in the street outside to listen to the folk band Albion Horns, be entertained by circus performers and have fun following professional puppeteers.

The aim of ‘Our Place, Your Place: Taunton’ was to bring residents together to learn about the town’s past, present and future.  Talking about the project’s success, Project Lead, Jan Horrell, said:

“It was great to see how giving new life to an empty shop could create so much vitality and excitement for such a broad cross section of the local community, in particular for those who would not normally take part in cultural activities.  Research has shown that the over 60s do not generally visit local museums but the interactive focus for the ‘Taunton past’ section, looking at memories and developing a sense of place, really did attract that audience.

“The project certainly brought a new buzz to an area of Taunton where people are usually just walking through,” she continued. “One of our partners quoted us as the talk of the town!”

Although the shop is now closed the project lives on.  The visitors of the past weeks can be proud to have left their own legacy on the record of their town; shared memories will be recorded as part of the People's Record, the photos on the Flickr pages of the website are a record of the activities and a DVD is being created that will be used in presentations and put on public display so future projects can learn from the Taunton experiences. A booklet will also be produced later in the year which will compile a range of pictures, comments and creative writing extracts that were produced through the project.

As Jan explains: “Funding from the Department of Business Innovation and Skills through the Transformation Fund and the Museums Libraries and Archives Council has enabled the ripples of the project to continue far into the future.”

Partner support for ‘Our Place, Your Place: Taunton’ came from Project Taunton, Somerset County Council (in particular the Heritage and Libraries Service but also Somerset Skills and Learning and officers from Economic Development) and Taunton Deane Borough Council (particularly Economic Development and the Voluntary Service Bureau) Thrive, the celebratory arts organisation for Somerset, and Transition Taunton.  Also critical to the success of the project was the unstinting support from a dedicated team of volunteers who manned the shop, welcomed visitors and helped people get the most out of the activities and exhibitions.

To find out more about ‘Our Place, Your Place: Taunton’ and see the photographs visit www.ourplacetaunton.org.uk.

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