National Trust Partnership

The National Trust Partnership is an award-winning collaboration between Oxford University and the National Trust which creates new opportunities for interdisciplinary research, knowledge exchange, public engagement with research and training at both institutions and beyond.

Working with specialists across a wide range of subject areas and locations, the partnership facilitates cutting-edge research into the National Trust’s inspiring places and collections which is then embedded into interpretation and public programming initiatives. Activities take place through a range of workstreams at both organisations, including academic placements and consultancy, conferences, workshops, public lectures and events, and student opportunities. The partnership also supports training and cross-institutional knowledge-exchange, including the Heritage Pathway Graduate Training Programme at Oxford and a Research Skills Training Programme for National Trust staff which was designed and delivered by Oxford PhD students and Early Career Researchers.

The National Trust Partnership grew out of the Trusted Source Knowledge Transfer Partnership, which ran from 2016-18 and was funded by the National Trust, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and InnovateUK. Trusted Source provided a means to bring academic research into the National Trust’s interpretation by connecting heritage professionals and university academics, and resulted in the creation of new interpretive resources including the Trusted Source website.

The National Trust Partnership is based in the University of Oxford’s Humanities Division but is interdisciplinary, drawing on and building connections across the University’s academic Divisions. 

Our team:

Alice Purkiss, National Trust & Heritage Partnerships Lead - alice.purkiss@humanities.ox.ac.uk 

Dr Rachel Delman, Heritage Partnerships Coordinator - rachel.delman@humanities.ox.ac.uk

Related Projects:

• Trusted Source 
• Heritage Programme 
• Women’s Suffrage and Colonialism: New Perspectives and Collaborations
• The Jewish Country House

The Heritage Partnerships team aims to create an accessible and inclusive environment in all our interactions: individually, as a team, and in the events we run. We respect everyone’s accessibility and communication needs and do not ask people to ‘prove’ their needs. If you are interested in attending an event with us, please contact us at heritage@torch.ox.ac.uk to discuss how we can make it as accessible as possible for you. The Heritage Partnerships team is also committed to an anti-racism environment and is LGBTQ+ inclusive. Every term we review the status of our commitments to access & inclusion and designate concrete actions to further these commitments in the term ahead; if you wish to view or contribute to these, you are welcome to contact us.