Sonic Heritage and Environmental Change on England’s East Coast

Preserving the nature of sound

This ambitious research project is funded by UKRI as part of the prestigious Future Leaders Fellowship scheme and will run from October 2025-September 2029. It seeks to preserve, reconstruct, and understand the soundscapes of the East Coast. The multidisciplinary team will use cutting-edge techniques of digital scanning and 3D modelling to reconstruct the sounds of key sites over periods of change (both environmental and in terms of human activity) and produce new,immersive digital environments for research and visitor experience. 

About the project

England’s East Coast is rightly acknowledged as a site of extraordinary heritage and unique cultural identity forged by a striking physical landscape. While it has produced a multitude of sounds of wildlife, waves,weather, bombs, fog horns, fishing boats, and music, connections between landscape, sound, and culture have frequently been overlooked. Yet it is an urgent task to understand connections between sound heritage and environment. A focus on sound, rather than music, enables consideration of myriad environmental impacts on a range of communities. Sound heritage is of increasing interest to heritage organisations both as a powerful insight into the past and as part ofinclusive, multisensory visitor experiences. Most importantly, many sites and examples of sound heritage on the East Coast are at risk due tocoastal erosion, climate change, and the changing purpose of sites andother damage leading to the loss of historic buildings.

The multidisciplinary team will use cutting-edge techniques of digital scanning and 3D modelling to reconstruct the sounds of key sites over periods of change (both environmental and in terms of human activity) and produce new,immersive digital environments for research and visitor experience. They will shift away from text-based studies of compositions to generate an ecological model of musical practiceand landscape. Finally, work with heritage and community organisations and schools will situate the research within existing communities and their experience of place, and produce new workshops and creative outputs. Working with national organisations the National Trust and Britten-Pears Arts as well as local communities, the project aims not only to secure access to sound heritage for local people, but to contribute to national and international best practice for understanding and preserving historical sound.