‘Difficult heritage’ study to analyse visitor reactions at former prison

The reactions of visitors to a preserved Scottish prison will be the focus of a study looking at how people engage with “difficult heritage”, a university has announced.

Researchers at Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Aberdeen will use video footage to analyse how visitors examine and experience different types of exhibits at former HM Prison Peterhead, now home to the popular Peterhead Prison Museum.

Known as “Scotland’s toughest jail”, the former Aberdeenshire prison was built in 1888 and housed some of the country’s worst criminals before closing in 2013.

By analysing footage of visitors’ live reactions to different exhibits, including a life-like murder scene and isolated prison cells, the researchers hope to learn more about how people make sense of and engage with “complex, and often troubling” aspects of history.

Dr Rachael Ironside, associate professor at RGU, said: “We are excited to start this project which seeks to explore visitor interaction at several exhibits within Peterhead Prison Museum.

“Dark tourism and prison museums have received increased academic and public attention in recent years, however, we still know relatively little about how people make sense of and engage with subjects that may be considered ‘difficult heritage’.

“Peterhead Prison Museum presents a fantastic opportunity to investigate these issues and we are incredibly grateful for all their support and enthusiasm for the project.

“We hope that our research will provide insight into our relationship with difficult heritage in a way that hasn’t been explored previously, while also helping museums to design exhibitions based on an increased understanding of how its visitors negotiate complex, and often troubling, aspects of human history.”

Museum operations manager Alex Geddes, a former member of the police who took on the role of transforming the former prison into a museum, said he hopes the study will “shine a light” on the work his and similar museums do.

“I am so excited about this research and to see the outcome at the other end,” he said.

“The project will hopefully shine a light on the work we do in dealing with difficult heritage and if the outcome also supports others in a similar field, then for me personally it is a win- win.

“It has been a delight to work with Robert Gordon University over the years relating to tourism, dark tourism, and events management.”

The project, called Talking about Prisons, is funded by the British Academy.