This talk will provide evidence of the particular contributions of feminist interpretation of the Bible. However, no one has to a feminist to observe that many passages, motifs, themes, and the meta-narrative itself proclaim liberation—redemption—from oppression, subverting the patriarchy that it...

Brig Michael Aris CBE DL and Richard Bennett DL, both experienced guides at the Duke of Wellington’s country home at Stratfield Saye, in Hampshire. They will give a fully illustrated presentation about the Life of Service which the 1st Duke of Wellington, known to all as 'The Great Duke'. This, b...

Professor Howard has had a lifelong enthusiast for the art and architecture of the Italian Renaissance particularly in Florence, and his talk today focusses on the churches of the two great pioneering architects of the early Renaissance, Brunelleschi and Alberti, who radically reshaped the desig...

In this lecture, Alice will talk through the history of three remarkable CCT churches which were featured, and also discuss more generally the challenges and thrills of bringing church and cathedral history to mainstream audiences.

Alice Loxton is a historian, presenter and writer. She presents...

Across England, rows of parallel vertical scars can be found on church stonework, clustered around porches, doors and windows; for upwards of a century, local antiquarians have been assuring us that these marks were made by the archers of medieval England sharpening their arrows. This well-loved ...

We welcome back Mark Hatton, an expert in the field of Memento Mori. These symbolic tropes act as a reminder of the inevitability of death and within this lecture are discussed in conjunction with the use of Adam and Eve imagery on eighteenth-century stones. As we venture further into this subjec...

On 24 May 1497 Girolamo Savonarola was led out to a scaffold in the middle of the Piazza della Signoria. Crowds gathered around and watched as he was publically humiliated before being hanged and burned. But what did this man do that warranted such a horrendous death? Born on 21 September 1458 in...

Join acclaimed art historian and one of the leading art critics in the world, Andrew Graham-Dixon for a fascinating lecture, Passion and Resurrection: The Purging of Art in the Reformation. At this exclusive Member lecture, Andrew will take attendees on a visual journey through art, showing some ...

Join our Conservation Manager for the West region, Meriel O'Dowd, as she explores the various successes and challenges CCT have faced saving historic churches, and get an insight into future churches coming our way.

Vespasiano da Bisticci was “the king of the world’s booksellers.” Born in humble circumstances in Florence in 1422, he became the biggest manuscript dealer in fifteenth-century Europe. His clients included kings, popes and princes, as well as three generations of the Medici. He created magnificen...

In late 1348, the Black Death entered London. Over the next 9 months, it ravaged the populace killing thousands. This paper provides a detailed look at its arrival, spread and eventual disappearance, and looks at some of the archaeological and architectural evidence for its passage, its final dea...

The talk will explain how various textile types from the Pre-Columbian Americas were adapted to create Catholic church ornaments beginning in the sixteenth century. Examples will be drawn from each of the chapters of Dr. Stanfield-Mazzi’s new book, Clothing the New World Church: Liturgical Textil...

Ever wondered how you go about looking at funerary monuments? How were they built? Who built them? What do they tell us? Join the Churches Conservation Trust and Dr Jean Wilson, from The Church Monuments Society, for this fascinating lecture exploring the wide-ranging subject of funerary monument...

In 1981 the Redundant Churches Committee of the Church Commissioners agreed by a narrow margin – one vote – to vest All Saints, Cambridge, in the Churches Conservation Trust, thus saving it from certain mutilation and possible demolition. The building, designed by George Frederick Bodley and open...

Death has been a source of grief and uncertainty for humanity throughout history, but it has also been the inspiration for a plethora of fascinating customs and much human creativity. This talk with Dr Helen Frisby, author of the Shire book Traditions of Death and Burial, explores English death a...

What do you do after writing a PhD on the medieval grotesque? In Alex Woodcock’s case it was to learn stonemasonry. Practical knowledge of working stone gradually transformed his understanding of medieval sculpture and eventually led to him working as a stonemason at Exeter Cathedral for several ...

In December 1983, a priest in the Italian hill town of Calcata shared shocking news with his congregation: The pride of their town, the foreskin of Jesus, had been stolen. Some postulated that it had been stolen by Satanists. Some said the priest himself was to blame. Some even pointed their fing...

This talk will analyse Sir Edwin Lutyens’ design for Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, which, according to his son, was ‘the very greatest building that was never built.’ Whilst research and critique of unbuilt or destroyed architecture is traditionally carried out through the examination of surv...

In 864 Tsar Boris I of the Bulgarian empire converted to Christianity after an extensive period of research into Christianity which included detailed questioning of the Pope. However, the new religion only took off after the intervention of the pupils of Saints Cyril and Methodius moved in after...

Join Churches Conservation Trust, and the Royal School of Church Music, to explore the nature of traditional and modern carols and their symbolism within our churches in a unique narrative combining words, live music, and participative song.

We are delighted to be welcoming Classic FM presenter,...