Community History – One Place Studies « The History Interpreter

‘History is not what you thought. It is what you can remember’ R J Yeatman

As a community historian, I aim to create a full picture of the history of my chosen research areas, using all available sources to create a One Place Study. To do this, I adopt a strategy of community reconstruction, which involves dissecting a small, definable, geographical area to examine, in as much detail as possible, the individuals, buildings and processes of the past.

I have four studies:-

Bucks Mills, Devon – small fishing hamlet, which grew up in the early nineteenth century
Buckland Brewer, Devon – a comparatively large rural parish
Bulkworthy, Devon – a smaller rural parish, once a chapelry of Buckland Brewer
Thockrington, Northumberland – a remote rural parish

I am a former chair of The Society for One-Place Studies and the author of an introductory one place studies booklet Ten Steps to a One-Place Study and a one place studies handbook Putting Your Ancestors in the Place: a guide to one place studies. I am listed on the Directory of One Place Studies. I was also the critical reader and family history adviser to the Open University with regard to the course ‘Family and Community History’, known as DA301 and I went on to tutor this course.