Between early July and early October 2024, I took part in a placement with the National Trust which involved analysing and interpreting a collection of Bible translations in various languages, belonging to a NT property in Wales called Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant.
Tŷ Mawr was the childhood home of William Morgan, who translated the Bible into the Welsh language in the 16th century. The origin story of the Bible translation collection is slightly unusual: the items were donated by individual visitors to the property on various occasions over a period of nearly four decades (1981-2019), rather than being a pre-existing unified collection that fell into the Trust’s hands. The Trust felt that it would be useful to gain a better understanding of the history of some of the specific translations that have been donated and how their stories intersect and interact with the Welsh translations, in order to present a more coherent and unified interpretation of the property for visitors to interact with. As such, I set out to uncover the individual histories of some of the more notable Bible translations, to identify points of comparison with the story of William Morgan, and to contextualise these varied individual stories within a shared broader history of Bible translation. This resulted in a report which will hopefully inform how this collection is interpreted and presented, enabling visitors to better explore the place of Bible translation as a phenomenon in the (multi)cultural heritage of Wales, the UK and the world more generally. Two key goals that I had going into the placement were to improve my ability to write and present with impact and to improve my collaboration and teamwork skills.
Near the end of the placement, I was able to lead a collaborative meeting with several members of staff from the Trust who are involved with Tŷ Mawr. In this meeting, I presented a summary of my key findings with a particular focus on the implications for how the collection is interpreted and presented to visitors. It was extremely rewarding to take part in a project with such a clear public interface and this helped me to feel more confident in identifying and describing the potential impact of my research. Receiving feedback from colleagues also created a good atmosphere of collaboration and teamwork, even though most of the work was being completed remotely.
Collaborating with the National Trust on this project was a great experience and I’m grateful to the Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholars Programme for their support in enabling me to do it. I hope the research will have a positive impact on the visitor experience of Tŷ Mawr and the interpretation of the collection.