- Listed Building Descriptions to Show Relevance to Transatlantic Slave Trade for the First Time - Today (Wednesday 25 October), English Heritage announced its commitment to researching, for the first time, connections between the transatlantic slave trade and properties in its care.   In a further action to reveal the fuller story of England's history, English Heritage also announced that formal descriptions of listed buildings would be reviewed to acknowledge historic links to transatlantic slavery and the abolitionist movement.

Of the 400 properties now in English Heritage's guardianship, those from the relevant era of 1600 to 1840 will be investigated for their links to the transatlantic slave trade in a research programme that could take almost two years. The new information on abolition and the slave trade included in listed building descriptions will help provide guidance on sites where the social historic importance can be even greater than the architectural interest.  Both projects aim to help mark the bicentenary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade in a way that extends far beyond the general activities for 2007.

The announcement, during Black History Month, comes just before the first high-level national debate on whether more can be done to
represent everybody's heritage, and particularly that of minority groups. Those making their views heard at the two-day sell-out English
Heritage and National Trust conference, Your Place or Mine? include leaders from community groups and cultural spokespeople such as Minister for Culture David Lammy MP, musician Billy Bragg, columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, and Baroness Lola Young.

At today's announcement at Kenwood House in North London, Culture Minister, David Lammy, who sits on the Government Advisory Group on 2007, said: "I am delighted that English Heritage is showing such commitment to events commemorating the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade.  The projects announced today will help explore the narratives behind parts of our built environment that have remained hidden for too long.

"I am also particularly pleased to be taking part in the Your Place or Mine conference in Manchester, and am determined that we should use the bicentenary next year to challenge the way we do business and the way that we engage with the communities.  Not just by opening doors, but in welcoming people in and asking them what they want to see and how they want to experience it."

Maria Adebowale, English Heritage Commissioner, said: "History must be honest and fair. The history of slavery needs to be properly recognised for the human misery it caused and the extent to which this appalling trade was used to improve state and individual wealth.

"The past can be painful but English Heritage is committed to reflecting the rich history of all people in England.  The definition of heritage has rightly widened over the years but there has never been a better time to look at whose history still needs to be better represented by the heritage sector. "

The announcement took place at English Heritage property Kenwood House where it is known that a young woman of dual heritage was brought up as part of the aristocratic family of Lord Mansfield, who won significant legal victories for abolitionists in England.  The story of Lord Mansfield and his niece, Dido, will be revealed in an English Heritage exhibition in May 2007.

In addition to this exhibition and plans to discover any connections to the slave trade in English Heritage properties and listed buildings,
other English Heritage activities for the 2007 bicentenary include:

*        Producing a first national Sites of Memory leaflet map, and web
micro-site on the English Heritage website, giving free information on
buildings and memorials across England that reflect the role of the
slave trade and resistance to it.

*        English Heritage will respond to an invitation by heritage
bodies in Ghana and St Kitts and Nevis to advise on survey, conservation
planning and Historic Environment Records for important sites relevant
to the history of slavery.

*        A new project to work with community groups in London will
explore the hidden multicultural histories of objects in the collection
at Rangers House, Blackheath.

*        A community project in Birmingham will use as inspiration
Elizabeth Cadbury's work to abolish the slave trade. Birmingham women
made textile bags, embroidered with messages, in which to hold the
anti-slavery manifesto and deliver these across the city. In 2007, women
across Birmingham will make their own similar bags and create a
manifesto with their own messages to be exhibited over Heritage Open
Days 2007.

*        Coming to Ipswich, an arts-based project with community groups
that, in partnership with Ipswich Museum, explores people's history in
the context of how and when they came to be living in the town.

*        A project with Wilberforce 2007 in Hull to support community
members as they mark their own ways of recognising the bicentennial, and
create a heritage trail linking sites of importance relating to the
transatlantic slave trade and its abolition.