Conference: Vernacular Architecture Group, 7-8 January 2023 (Bursaries 3 December 2022; Registration 15 December 2022)

Vernacular Architecture Group

Winter Conference

Trans-National Connections - Vernacular Architecture in Britain & Beyond

College Court, University of Leicester, 7-8 January 2023

The winter conference takes a theme of current interest and explores it in depth through papers given by experts in the field. This year we welcome bookings from non-members as well as members (although we hope that non-members would like to join the group - please see the Membership page for details). Enquiries: please email winter-conference@vag.org.uk.

Vernacular architecture studies in the UK have often focused on local places and regions within the nations of England, Scotland and Wales. This conference aims to widen our horizons and look at the connections between architecture in Britain and patterns of building in Europe, Scandinavia and across the Atlantic. Speakers will address the theme of building traditions in Britain and their relationship to patterns elsewhere. Papers focusing on Sweden, Dutch houses, France, and the Channel Islands, sit alongside investigations into roof and wall construction in Britain and Europe, and 'trans-national' connections within Britain on the Anglo-Welsh and Anglo-Scottish Borders, as well as around the Irish Sea, and in Shetland and the North Atlantic Isles.

The programme includes:

  • ATLANTIC CONNECTIONS

    • Matthew Johnson - “English” Building and Landscape in the Northern Atlantic.

    • Alison McQuitty - Houses of the Green Caribbean: Vernacular Architecture in Suriname.

    • Ian Tait - What Made North Atlantic Buildings (Dis)Similar?

  • NORTH SEA CONNECTIONS

    • Gabri van Tussenbroek - The Dutch urban housing landscape (c.1150-1650): timber-frames, bricks and stones, geographical similarities and differences.

    • Karl-Magnus Melin - Twelfth-Century Carpentry Art in the Diocese of Lund and England: Similarities and Differences in Craft.

  • EVENING LECTURE

    • Lee Prosser - Timber Imports into England.

  • ROOFS (& WALLS) IN EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE

    • Nat Alcock - Cruck Buildings in Europe: Coincidence or Connection?

    • Chris Currie - Crown-posts and Box-Frames in South-East Britain: French, German, native, or what? – and why?

    • Paul Reed - How Medieval Carpenters Set Out Roofs and Buildings in European Perspective.

  • TRANS-NATIONAL ARCHITECTURE IN BRITAIN & THE ISLES

    • Duncan James - Patterns of Vernacular Building on the Anglo-Welsh Border.

    • Catherine Kent - “Neither Castle nor Tower, but a House of Convenient Strength and Defence”: Classifying Buildings on the Anglo-Scottish Border.

    • Alex Gibbons - Earth Building as a Conscious Choice – Craftsmanship and Tradition Shared Throughout the Celtic and Irish Seas.

  • CONNECTIONS ACROSS THE CHANNEL

    • Nicolas Vernot - Magico-religious Marks and Practice in Vernacular Architecture: A French perspective.

    • Callum Tostevin-Hall - “Hearth and Home” A Comparison of Early Integrated Houses in the Channel Islands and Elsewhere.

    • Philippe Favre - Moullins Aisled Hall: So French, or Not?

    • John Allan - Breton Woodworkers in South-West England, 1500-50.

The conference is open to all, and full details and booking form can be downloaded here (booking closes 15 December 2022):

A small number of bursaries are available for students or early career professionals to enable their attendance at the conference. For details, see Winter Conference Bursaries. Due by 3 December 2022

For more information: https://www.vag.org.uk/conferences.htm