Major investment to boost Oxford’s heritage science capability

Using the latest technology and scientific equipment, this programme will support access to heritage collections, grow the UK’s heritage economy and drive technological innovation in areas such as material science.

Professor Christopher Smith, AHRC Executive Chair

As part of RICHeS, a multi-disciplinary team of Oxford University researchers has been awarded close to £1 million to lead the Oxford Collaboration in Heritage science Research and Engagement (OCHRE) project. Its goal is to support, enhance, and connect Oxford’s world-class strengths in built heritage, collections, and archaeology through a sustainable heritage science hub, linked to a network of new and updated equipment in eight participating laboratories.

Professor Heather Viles (School of Geography and the Environment), who will lead the OCHRE team, said: ‘This amazing AHRC RICHeS grant will make a step-change in our capacity to carry out cutting-edge research which will directly support the conservation and understanding of built heritage, archaeology, and collections.’

A researcher at the Ashmolean Museum examines a Maiolica plate using portable X Ray Fluorescence. Image credit: Ashmolean Museum.

•  A new Scanning Electron Microscope to allow researchers to examine objects in exceptional detail;
• Upgrades to digital imaging equipment and hyperspectral imaging technology to capture and analyse images across a wide range of wavelengths, revealing hidden details in materials;
• High-performance equipment for chemical and structural analysis;
• 3D software upgrades to enhance the use of CT scans to create detailed visual models;
• New equipment for portable analysis and monitoring, including a handheld X-ray tool and upgraded ‘Lab in Your Pocket’ environmental sensors.

Professor Viles added: ‘Together, the infrastructure funded through the OCHRE project will be uniquely able to evaluate mechanical, physical, and chemical characteristics of a wide range of heritage materials and therefore provide scientific research support to a broad array of heritage partners – from small museum collections to large, high-profile heritage sites.’

RICHeS has provided the unprecedented opportunity to enhance our heritage science network and equipment infrastructure within Oxford University, which will no doubt have an extremely beneficial impact on our research and collections.

Virginia Lladó-Buisán, T. A. Barron Head of Conservation and Heritage Science, Bodleian Libraries

The new investment will support both Oxford’s existing heritage and conservation partnerships, and new collaborations. Examples of Oxford’s current programmes include:

• The Blenheim-Oxford partnership, which is applying a data-driven approach to restore the 300-year palace.
• The National Trust partnership, which is bringing new light to the Trust’s historic properties, landscapes, and collections by connecting it with cutting-edge Oxford research.

AHRC Executive Chair, Professor Christopher Smith said: ‘The UK has a rich and unparalleled cultural heritage and is a global leader in the science of heritage conservation. By investing in heritage science, we are not only unleashing new understanding about our cultural assets but boosting a world-leading heritage economy that will benefit us all.’

OCHRE is one of 31 projects funded through the first tranche of AHRC’s RICHeS programme. For information about the other funded projects, see the AHRC website.