Human Henge Online

OUT OF DARKNESS INTO LIGHT

The evaluation of Human Henge Online, a remote test and learn project

Partners:        Restoration Trust; Richmond Fellowship; English Heritage;

 Centre for Archaeology and Anthropology Bournemouth University

Funders:         Cultural Recovery Fund

Zoom still showing Yvette Staelens inside the Stonehenge stone circle sharing a piece of Bluestone

Human Henge Online was a test and learn project exploring stakeholder learning and participant experience of remote online engagement with the ancient landscape of Stonehenge during COVID-19.

When COVID-19 hit, face-to-face groups had to stop. Alongside the distress of living with a mental health condition, many were left grappling with the increased fear, misery, isolation and loss suffered through the pandemic:

It's a miserable time. Lockdown’s miserable. X died last year and to be able to be taken away from the bereavement and misery and the horribleness and the fear of everything that's going on at the moment in this world. [Human Henge Online Participant]

Supported by Cultural Recovery Funds, Human Henge Online aimed to discover whether the therapeutic impact of engaging with the ancient landscape of Stonehenge would translate to an online experience. 

Evaluation

The evaluation of Human Henge Online delivered by Willis Newson explored participants’ experience of taking part and identified partner and stakeholder learning to inform the development of future online and remote programmes.

It used a range of qualitative tools including online stakeholder debriefs after each Human Henge Online session as well as online participant and stakeholder focus groups in which reflection and discussion was facilitated through images and creative prompts. 

Participant Experience

The remit of the evaluation was not to measure outcomes. However, qualitative accounts of participants’ experience suggest that the project increased participants’ knowledge and engagement with ancient heritage, led to a reduction in loneliness and isolation, and an increase in wellbeing.

The evaluation captured the experience of participants in the form of a Pantoum – a Malaysian poetic form consisting of a set pattern of repeating lines - compiled from participants’ words shared during the Human Henge Online Evaluation Focus Group:

 

A Human Henge Online Pantoum

Stuck indoors during lockdown, there isn't much joy,

So, yes, this was the light out of the darkness.

Those packages were worth so much. Hugs in the post.

I felt like I was in the room with all of you.

 

So, yes, this was the light out of the darkness,

That beautiful connection that we had every week,

I felt like I was in the room with all of you.

I noticed how much other people were hurting.

 

That beautiful connection that we had every week.

I feel so small in the history of the world.

I noticed how much other people were hurting.

I won't ever forget this.

 
I feel so small in the history of the world.

Those packages were worth so much. Hugs in the post.

I won't ever forget this,

Stuck indoors during lockdown, there isn't much joy.

 

Compiled from words shared during the Human Henge Online Evaluation Focus Group

 

Learning

The online format of Human Henge Online demonstrated benefits around access and reach which make it a potential delivery method beyond the Pandemic.  

The evaluation identified a number of key criteria to successful online delivery and concluded that the Human Henge Online model might be developed and applied to other heritage sites across the UK as part of social prescribing.

Download the Human Henge Online Evaluation here  and the Project Case Study here.

If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Jane@willisnewson.co.uk

 

Zoom still showing Professor Tim Darvill approaching the stone circle at Stonehenge