More than Just Buildings: Assessing the Subcultural Heritage Significance of Grassroots Music Venues

Adopting a contemporary and inclusive ‘everyday’ definition of heritage that contextualises it as a dynamic and fluid social process, this thesis assesses the subcultural heritage significance of Grassroots Music Venues (GMV). Drawing on original empirical research that includes secondary data analysis, an online qualitative survey, and scenario-driven interviews in four case-study venues across Yorkshire and the Humber, the thesis demonstrates how local communities attribute evidential, historical, aesthetic, and communal values to GMVs. Often overlooked in authorised heritage discourses (Smith 2006), GMVs are understood here as vital social hubs that contribute meaningfully to talent development, local subcultural identity, collective memory, and a sense of belonging. Far from being just buildings, they operate as meeting points where community, creativity, and continuity converge.
Moreover, the thesis introduces affective heritage value as a distinct, essential addition to existing values-based frameworks (e.g. Conservation Principles, Historic England 2008) and reconceptualises GMVs as third places of lived heritage through a conceptual innovation that captures the dense entanglement of material, immaterial, and affective meanings produced through everyday cultural heritage and communal practices. In doing so, the thesis challenges narrow, designation-based heritage assessments and makes the case for recognising the heritage value of non-conventional subcultural spaces shaped from below.
The implications of this work are both theoretical and practical. It contributes to critical heritage studies by broadening the definitional scope of what is heritage, and it supports more inclusive cultural policy by offering tools for assessing the heritage value of grassroots venues. This research matters to scholars, heritage professionals, cultural policymakers, local authorities, venue operators, and community advocates who seek to understand and safeguard everyday cultural heritage in all its lived, tangible, and affective dimensions.