We were commissioned by Medway Council, as part of their Medway Heritage Place programme, to carry out an audit of the area’s heritage.
In 2023, the National Lottery Heritage Fund announced Medway would benefit from £200 million of investment as part of their Heritage Places initiative.
Our work was a mix of desk research, interviews with heritage holders and stakeholders, and surveys, all to explore the current state of Medway’s heritage sector. It delivered a full audit report as well as a database of over 200 assets that was used to create an audit map.
The Council are building on our work, looking to expand the heritage map through public submissions.
The 60+ page report explores the definition of heritage categories and the strengths, challenges and opportunities in Medway.
Our key findings were:
– Medway’s heritage sector is rich in assets, stories and expertise – but fragmentation, underinvestment and lack of visibility limit its development.
– There is significant potential to position heritage at the centre of Medway’s identity and placemaking activity.
– Our report demonstrates the area’s considerable heritage assets but that the best is yet to be made of them.
The Audit built on the work begun in summer 2024, an Open Space Consultation at Rochester Corn Exchange that initiated conversations around Medway’s heritage and it’s future.
Downloads
- Medway Heritage Place: Medway Heritage Audit – Kitty Wright, Rebecca Ranson and David Lee – March 2025 (PDF, 4.7MB)
- Medway Heritage Place: Open Space Consultation Report – July 2024 (PDF, 8MB)
“We mapped Medway’s astounding tangible heritage; the potential for Medway to make more of this is to highlight the amazing stories it contains. Intangible heritage brings the tangible to life.”
Kitty WrightProject Lead
