About the show
Welcome to Hidden Heritage – the podcast that brings you inside Great Britain’s favourite destinations with help from custodians, historians, artisans and experts.
From the same team that brought you the No.1 History podcast Duchess, Hidden Heritage uncovers the fascinating stories behind the UK brightest hidden gems. With the help from the biggest voices within British heritage, Hidden Heritage will explore some of the key challenges facing national heritage today and how they can be addressed.
Hosted by Lady Violet Manners, founder of HeritageX and Executive Producer of the hit podcast Duchess, this podcast shares the untold & unique stories that celebrate UK heritage. From landmarks to architecture, artefacts to myths & legends, Hidden Heritage will highlight a side to British history you have never seen before.
This is Hidden Heritage.
Hosted by Violet Manners — Viscountess Garnock (née Lady Violet Manners) — this series explores the lives of those shaped, influenced or quietly drawn towards heritage.
Some guests grew up inside historic houses, as Violet did.Some work behind the scenes preserving them.Others simply fell in love with old places and found that fascination shaping the course of their lives.
These are conversations about ambition, memory, risk, family and belonging — with heritage woven throughout.
Because heritage is never just about buildings.
It is about the people drawn to them, shaped by them, and sometimes changed because of them.
In this episode, Violet Manners is joined by Dr Tristram Hunt, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum and former MP, for a wide-ranging conversation about the role of museums in public life. They discuss how institutions like the V&A are evolving in the 21st century – from addressing colonial legacies to engaging new audience – and the importance of safeguarding heritage through education, storytelling, and civic engagement. Tristram reflects on the power of design to shape society and offers his perspective on the future of Britain’s cultural landscape.
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