A famous archaeologist* once said, ‘to understand the past we must understand places.’ In as much as this is true, so too is the opposite. To truly understand places, and what makes them special in our collective identity, it is fundamental that we understand the past.

The bricks and mortar that make up ‘place’ are really just the physical manifestation of the human presence. If you look past the building or place itself, you are likely to find that it is the associations to people that make a particular place hold special significance. Telling the story of people is an archaeologist’s speciality. And we don’t restrict ourselves to ancient people – living culture is as much part of humanity’s evolving story as those who came before.

But what does all this have to do with archaeology and planning?

It’s the story of people’s day to day lives and interactions – both past and present, that is at the very heart of placemaking. Capturing the stories, memories, and recollections of a time and place is just as important to its identity as recording the physical remains of those long dead. Living stories are part of the significance of a space.

While excavating graves of Victorian London’s poor at a former workhouse in Camden recently, – it was literally inscribed on their bones. The site even has possible connections to Charles Dickens. But this is a site that has since served as a hospital for local people over 100 years and so it got us thinking – what of the stories of all the Londoner’s who came after? The bones of those long dead Victorians tell us only one part of the story and the significance of this place is just as much about its recent use as a hospital for Camden as it is about Victorian poor.

Iceni Projects are working with the London & Middlesex Archaeological Society (LAMAS) and University College London Hospital Charity (UCLHC) to collate the social history of 44 Cleveland Street, Camden – more recently known as Middlesex Hospital Annex. We want to preserve the stories that are fundamental to its identity and engage the local community in the evolving use of this iconic building and space.

We are focusing on the period between 1916-2005 and would love to hear from people with associations, stories, anecdotes, and memories of this special place. If you’d like to help us preserve the full history of the site that will make this a place for future generations, we’d love to hear from you.
https://middlesexannex.com/

*For those of you interested in academic archaeological theory, that archaeologist was Lewis Binford (The Archaeology of Place (1981))