Music, Heritage, Place: Unlocking the Musical Collections of England’s County Record Offices is a collaborative project uncovering the music manuscripts and printed music from c.1500 to c.1850 held in local archives across England. By investigating the music made and used in England’s regions, the project is challenging the dominant histories of English music as based in major cities and cultural centres. We are creating new, decentralised understandings of English music, revealing previously untold stories about the men and women active in musical life during past centuries. 

The project is documenting the musical sources held in local archives by creating catalogue records in the database Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM). This cataloguing allows music to be located by tune and shows whether tunes are unique or shared with other sources. We are adding summary descriptions of the musical heritage in local archives to the Cecilia database run by project partner IAML UK & Ireland (International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres). Selected digitisation of music manuscripts is increasing access to these sources and preserving the fragile originals, as with our pilot project digitising vernacular music manuscripts from Hampshire. Explore the catalogue records and data produced by the project. 

Music, Heritage, Place is developing new insights into music and local identity between c.1550 and c.1850. We are showing how music was rooted in specific communities, yet also moved across regional boundaries. The project is investigating the varied ways in which music was obtained and learned by different communities in this era. We are exploring how our archival discoveries can be reworked for present-day audiences and can inspire a new generation of musicians.  

Music discovered in the archives are being showcased in performances by the Melrose Quartet at summer festivals in 2025 and in a BBC Radio 3 series. Performances and educational workshops arising from the research are being delivered in collaboration with project partners the English Folk Dance and Song Society and Music Partnership North. To connect this heritage with the communities where the music originated, we are co-creating public engagement events with project partners Cumbria Archives, Hampshire Archives, Northumberland Archives and Surrey History Centre. See our Events page for more details. 

Music, Heritage, Place is led by Stephen Rose at Royal Holloway, University of London, and Kirsten Gibson and Nancy Kerr at Newcastle University, and is funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council. The pilot project Unlocking Hampshire’s Musical Heritage was funded by the Hampshire Archives Trust.