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Transforming museums and communities with dialect heritage

Date

A wall with a sign that reads "T'Pub"

Our voices carry rich histories: there are few markers of place and identity more personal than dialect.

Yet across the UK, generations of local speech have been stored away in fragile archives, preserved but disconnected from the people who once spoke them and those who still do.

The Dialect and Heritage Project (DHP) set out to change this by reconnecting communities with their linguistic past and celebrating dialect as a living, evolving part of cultural heritage.

This collaboration between the University, five museums, and hundreds of volunteers helped communities to engage with the archives and reclaim their linguistic stories. Led by Professor Fiona Douglas, DHP showed that dialect is not just about words—it is about memory, pride, and a sense of belonging.

Video summary

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Impact

  • Built long-term capacity by training 137 new volunteers (87% first-timers), equipping museums with oral history skills and leaving a lasting infrastructure for community-led engagement
  • Embedded dialect in public life through permanent museum installations, interactive trails, and 256 events attended by 14,824 people across 144 locations
  • Increased pride and cultural identity, with over 80% of participants reporting they had not valued their dialect previously, and 83% feeling prouder after taking part
  • Expanded access to heritage archives, creating a freely accessible online platform with over 268 pieces of content, including interactive tools, educational resources, and hundreds of digitised recordings
  • Inspired new creative and community ventures, including the "Ey Up!" project and spin-off activities in libraries and schools
  • Recognised for excellence, winning the 'Mature Cultural Impact' prize at the University of Leeds' Research Impact and Engagement Awards 2024.

Key information

  • Major funders: National Lottery Heritage fund, Leeds alumni, the Footsteps fund
  • Partners and collaborators: Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings, Dales Countryside Museum, The Food Museum, Ryedale Folk Museum, Weald and Downland Living Museum, Ammba Digital Ltd., Mary Stones and Tracy Cragg, and more
  • Disciplines: culture, language, history
  • Investigators: Fiona Douglas, Rosemary Hall, Kerri-Ann Butcher, Caroline Bolton, Rosie Dyson, Kathleen McGrath, Rae Hughes, Engagement Officers and Libraries colleagues.