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Burntisland
Heritage Trust intend to erect a display panel to commemorate significant people
associated with the town. An extensive consultation
of the local community has now been completed, and the
results can be seen below. The original consultation document can be
viewed by clicking here (PDF file, 131Kb, opens in a new
window). A rough and ready mockup of the panel can be seen by clicking here (PDF file, 74Kb, opens in a new
window). |
BURNTISLAND
HERITAGE TRUST: COMMEMORATION PANEL
RESULTS
OF THE CONSULTATION EXERCISE
The Trust's Commemoration Panel Sub-Committee (Ian Archibald, John
Burnett, Helen Mabon, Iain Sommerville) met on 13 February to consider the
comments received.
There was
a good response to the consultation, and we are very grateful to everyone who
took the trouble to let us have their suggestions. It certainly proved to be a
worthwhile exercise, and a number of significant changes have been made as a
result.
The
comments which we received are summarised below, together with our decision on
each one.
Deletion
of names
A number
of people suggested that Janet Allan (witch) and Thomas Corstorphin (murdered
Town Officer) should not be included on the panel as they were the victims of
circumstance rather than positive achievers. We have accepted this, and neither
name will feature on the panel. We would, however, hope to commemorate them in
some other way. With Thomas Corstorphin, this could be by means of an
individual plaque - probably a better bet anyway, as there could well be other
local heroes as yet unidentified who might in the future merit similar
treatment.
It was
suggested that there was no need for David Danskin to be included, as a plaque
in his memory was recently erected in the Kirkgate. We did not accept this
suggestion, as we believe that the people panel should complement individual
commemorative plaques. In fact we would like to see more individual plaques,
mounted where possible at locations which have some connection with the
individuals being commemorated.
We were
asked not to include Sir John Gladstone, because he was at one time a slave
owner. He was not on the original A list, and we did not consider promoting
him.
Addition
of names
We have
accepted the suggestion that Wilfrid Ayre (founder of Burntisland Shipyard)
should be included.
James
Shepherd (who donated the sites for the public library and the new Erskine
Church) was also suggested. We decided to widen consideration of him to include
other benefactors - specifically the Young family (who donated the first Free
Church and School, and the Music Hall) and John Watson (who left a bequest to
benefit certain widows in the town). We believe that the Young family's
generosity was much more significant than that of James Shepherd and John
Watson. We will therefore be including the Youngs on the panel, but not
Shepherd and Watson.
We were
asked to consider adding the names of war heroes - Sir William Fairfax, Major
John Pitcairn and Sir Andrew Wood. We did consider them again, but have decided
not to include them.
In making
these decisions, a significant limiting factor has been the amount of space
available on the panel. However, one of our aspirations for the longer term is
for a series of local information panels for specific interesting locations
within the town. These would provide scope to mention people (including those
mentioned above) who were omitted from the main commemoration panel.
Kings,
Queens and Oliver Cromwell
It was
suggested that the Kings and Queens who had some connection with Burntisland,
and also Oliver Cromwell, should be included. We have accepted that they should
be acknowledged in some way - although not on the main commemoration panel,
partly because they are in a different category from the other people and
partly because of a shortage of space. We have therefore decided to have a
smaller and separate panel for them and are currently developing this idea. A
possible location would be the paved area at the north end of Union Street. We
appreciate that Cromwell was an enemy of the town, and with him we will say
something like: "He occupied Burntisland from 1651 to 1660, subjecting the
inhabitants to a period of tyranny and oppression."
Location of panel
We
received two suggestions on the location of the panel - that it could be fixed
to the north pillar at the entrance to the Links, or that it could be attached
to the wall of the Town House or Library. We discussed both of these options
and carried out site inspections. We ruled out the pillar option because there
is insufficient space for the amount of information we are providing. Previous
advice from Fife Council indicated that planning permission would not be
granted for attaching the panel to the Town House or Library, and probably not
to the pillar either.
Other
comments
Although
the consultation was primarily about the names to be included on the panel and
its location, we received some comments on other aspects.
One
suggestion was that there were too many words for one panel - beyond the
average person's attention span. We agree that the wording should be as concise
as possible, and we have reduced the number of words by 30% compared with the
original consultation document. However, the Trust has an educational role too,
and we believe that the provision of a reasonable amount of basic information
is highly desirable.
A few
people told us that they thought the design was unimaginative. It was indeed
intended to be simple, but we have reviewed the options available from the
specialist firm with which we have been dealing and are now proposing to use
this design:
The panel
will be cast in relief in bronze, and will include nine modelled heads. A rough and ready mockup of the panel can be seen by clicking here (PDF file, 74Kb, opens in a new
window).
We also received
some imaginative suggestions of alternatives to the single panel concept -
multiple panels (met partially by our planned second panel); a bronze column;
and a series of individual plaques set in paved areas. Attractive as these
options are, they would all involve considerable extra work - more than we can
spare at the present time - and they would also take us over the thresholds for
the small grants schemes of the most accessible funding organisations. We are
therefore pressing ahead with a single main panel for this project,
complemented by a smaller one of similar design for the Kings, Queens and
Cromwell (as described above). It will be some time before even these
relatively modest proposals can come to fruition because we still have to
secure planning permission and other consents, and - crucially - funding.
We will
certainly not forget about the more imaginative suggestions, and they may well
be appropriate for future projects. In that connection, it is worth mentioning
here that Fife Council have within the last few weeks resurrected an idea which
they were toying with four years ago, but which they did not pursue at that
time. The idea stems from the Burntisland & Kinghorn Townscape Heritage
Initiative and is described rather vaguely as "a measure of public
interpretation implemented around the town to interpret the built historic
environment of Burntisland's Conservation Area for visitors and locals
alike". We will be watching developments (if indeed there are any)
closely. Public consultation has been promised, and we will ask Fife Council to
specifically consult those whom we consulted on the people panel project,
including of course those who submitted comments to us.
IAIN SOMMERVILLE
Trustee,
Burntisland Heritage Trust
27
February 2008