Morley Medieval

A society open to all interested in medieval art and architecture, Morley Medieval hosts guest lectures in the autumn and spring terms by leading scholars on a wide range of research topics. Cultural visits are arranged during the summer months. We began in in 1985, initially to offer Morley College students of medieval art ways of extending their studies.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, lectures have been put online, currently via Zoom at 5.30 pm on the third Thursday of the month, starting in October, 2022. From 2023 these will be held at 5.30 on the third Friday of the month.

Membership options for 2022-23 give access to all lectures, and advance information and booking for other events. £30 for individual membership and £50 for two people at the same address; or £10 for members not using the internet. To join, contact rosemary.clarke@yahoo.co.uk [11 Granville Road, London, N22 5LP].

2022-23 Programme

CORRECTION: Please note amended dates for February & March

15 Dec.: Zoom Lecture. Dr Lizzie Swarbrick, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow School of Art History, University of Edinburgh: Reimagining Scottish Churches from the Late Middle Ages.

20 Jan.: details to follow

17 Feb.: Zoom Lecture. Prof. Michael Michael, Hon.Fellow, Univ. of Glasgow: The Imagery of the Office of the Dead in England of the 13th and 14th centuries.

17 March: details to follow

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Previous Lectures & Trips include:

2021 

 15th Jan. Zoom lecture. John McNeill, Oxford University’s Department of Continuing Education and Honorary Secretary of the British Archaeological Association: Venosa, Acerenza and 'Norman' Architecture in Southern Italy.

12th Feb. Zoom lecture. Richard Halsey, architectural historian: Norwich, a Fine Old City.

12th March Zoom lecture. Dr Amy Jeffs, Author, Printmaker and Paul Mellon Centre Postdoctoral Fellow: Misrepresenting History: medieval art, Thomas Becket and depicting invisible truths.

7th August: A day trip with Richard Halsey, visiting Adderbury, Croughton, Brackley, Somerton and Kings Sutton. Starting & finishing at Kings Sutton rail station, £42.25, lunch not included.

26th August: AGM via Zoom, at 5 pm, followed at 5.30 by Lecture, Dr Agata Gomolka, Assistant Curator Norwich Castle Project, Norfolk Museums Service. The Norwich Castle: Royal Palace Reborn Project — Principles and Processes.

4th September: A 'make-your-own-way' day visit to Reading, where Dr Ron Baxter will guide us around the abbey and town, Cost £20.

11th September: A make your own way day trip to Northampton to take advantage of the annual Heritage Open Days Event . We plan to visit four churches: St Peter’s, St Matthew’s, The Church of the Holy Sepulchre & All Saints, plus other historic buildings as time and energy permit.

20th-24th September: A residential visit to Norwich, guided by Richard Halsey and other invited speakers. £730 single, £570 double pp.

20th October: Zoom Lecture. Dr Julia Faiers, recently qualified post-graduate at University of St Andrews: Spirited Away: the display and displacement of a forgotten French Entombment sculpture.

15th December: Zoom Lecture. Dr Richard Plant, Lecturer, City Lit.: Romanesque Floors: Images and Uses.

2022

19th January: Zoom Lecture. Dr David M Robinson FSA FRHistS, Historian & Author: ‘The fairest abbay of al Wales’: The Cistercian Abbey and Post-Suppression House at Neath.

16 February: Zoom Lecture. Prof Julian Luxford, University of St Andrews: Art and Northern Sanctity in Late Medieval England.

16 March: Zoom Lecture. Dr Clive Burgess: A Game of Two Halves? The Development of Medieval Bristol.

13 April, Zoom lecture. Dr John Renner, Independent Scholar: Art and the Commune in the Italian City-States, c. 1250-1350 .

28 May: A tour of five churches near Peterborough, led by architectural historian Richard Halsey. Coach from Peterborough Station at 1115, to visit: St Mary’s, Warmington, lunch and St Peter’s in Oundle, St Mary & All Saints, Nassington, St Mary’s, Wansford and St Michael & All Angels, Sutton. Return to Peterborough Station in time for the 1756 London train. Cost: £45, to include coach, fees, lunch & tea.

11 June: Make-your-own-way trip to see the display in Southend Museum about the burial of the Prittlewell Prince. After lunch at the (wrongly-named) Saxon King pub we will have a look at Prittlewell Priory and St Mary’s Church, Prittlewell. We will travel by train from Liverpool Street Station to Southend Victoria Station and return from Prittlewell Station.

13 August: Meet Richard Halsey, architectural historian, at Harlington [Beds.] Station [Thameslink] by 1015 for a coach tour of churches around Milton Keynes: St Laurence, Broughton, St Firmin, North Crawley [where we also stop for lunch], All Saints, Lathbury, and St James, Hanslope, ending at the Chapel of Our Lady, Bradwell. We return to Harlington Station by 1800 for trains to London. Cost £47.

23 Sept.: AGM: Live! To be held in room B13, Morley College at 1730, followed by Dr Jana Gajdošová, of Sam Fogg,The South Transept of Prague Cathedral. Doors open at 1700.

20 Oct.: Zoom Lecture. Dr Lesley Milner, Independent Scholar: Recording with Nostalgia: Cuthbert, Durham and the ‘Rites of Durham’.

17 Nov.: Zoom Lecture. Dr Helen Lunnon, Honorary Research Associate, University of East Anglia: Births, Marriages and Deaths in the English Medieval Church Porch.