Shortlisted for England’s Everyday History Heroes!

August 7, 2026 | Holkham voices | 3 minute read

This year we have been celebrating in the Hall the establishment of Holkham Studio Pottery by Lady Elizabeth, the 5^th Countess of Leicester. This entrepreneurial business was a first for the Estate in post-War Britain. It required new skills and working practices which she initially brought in with skilled crafts people from ‘the Potteries,’ who shared their expertise with local workers to create a thriving business. Behind the exhibition were many long hours of searching within the archives piecing the evidence together with other resources to uncover new stories and forgotten details. Researching it has been a fascinating and intriguing business, and as soon as once one question was answered another was formed! Access to contemporary newspapers was particularly fruitful, for example, an article in the Lancashire Press reported that Princess Anne was very complimentary about the vast array of lights on display at a trade fair in Blackpool, or biographical details for an obscure potter were in Yorkshire! Crucially, a call went out to past workers and their families asking them to share their stories about the pottery and it has been great to have their input in the exhibition and their recollections will enter the archives.

The pottery was based in a building close which is not normally open to the public, but it will be open as part of the Heritage Open Day festival in September. Visitors coming to the Lady Elizabeth Wing, Thursday 17, can see the archive displays and photographs and hear talks by the Archivist, Lucy Purvis, and Ryan Mills, Security and Facilities Manager who is an avid collector of Holkham Pottery.

It was a wonderful surprise to find out that we have been shortlisted as a regional finalist in the Everyday History Heroes 2026 competition. This is a national celebration of the organisations, places and people keeping local history alive in partnership with Heritage Open Days and Find My Past, a genealogy and local history website. We are very enthusiastic to share our histories to inform and inspire our visitors, our staff, and our community, to reveal the people who made our past, and to make our history accessible and relevant both now and for future generations.

Lucy Purvis said ‘We’re delighted to see the stories of Holkham’s workers. Craftspeople and local communities recognised alongside those of the Estate itself. Through research in the archives, we can champion these often-overlooked lives to the forefront and show how they helped shape Holkham’s rich heritage which we share via our events and exhibitions programme as well as our online Journal’

The next stage is the public vote, which is NOW OPEN and runs until 31 August. The public vote will decide both the regional winners and the overall national Everyday History Hero.

We would love everyone to cast a vote for us. Every vote will help highlight the incredible heritage work taking place at Holkham and the people who make it happen every day.

Please also share the voting link with your family, friends, and anyone else you know. Every vote counts, and the more people we can reach, the better our chances of winning!

If we are lucky enough to win then Lucy is hoping to start an oral history programme and interview past workers so that their stories are preserved for future generations. Watch this space: a national winner and seven regional winners to be announced on Thursday 10 September