Conference | Norwich and the Medieval Parish Church, 900–2017
Norwich and the Medieval Parish Church, ca. 900–2017: The Making of a Fine City
Norwich Cathedral Hostry, 17–18 June 2017 (with site visits on 19 June)
A conference hosted by The Medieval Parish Churches of Norwich Research Project, undertaken at the University of East Anglia and funded by The Leverhulme Trust.
All 58 churches—whether existing, ruined, or lost—are included in the scope of the project, which seeks insight into how the medieval city developed topographically, architecturally, and socially. The project is intended to reveal the interdependent relationship between city, community, and architecture showing how people and places shaped each other during the Middle Ages. The conference—supported by the Paul Mellon Centre for British Art and Purcell—will present the medieval parish churches of Norwich in their immediate local context and in the broader framework of urban churches in Britain and northern Europe. The subject range will include documentary history, the architectural fabric of the buildings themselves and their place in the topography of Norwich, the development of the churches’ architecture and furnishings, the representation of the churches, and their post-Reformation history.
In addition to the medieval lines of inquiry, the conference will include papers addressing the churches of Norwich from a long eighteenth-century perspective. Roey Sweet will discuss the rise of the concept of the historic town, which became established in the nineteenth century. William Jacob will consider the changes that Norwich churches underwent in the Georgian period in relation to the Prayer Book and concepts of politeness. David King will address the evidence for stained glass provided by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century antiquaries, and Clare Haynes will explore the medieval imaginaries that were engaged in the antiquarian, topographical, and archaeological visual record of the churches.
Full details, including timings and costs, to be announced in the coming weeks. Bookings will be taken from early March 2017. Provisional reservations can be made by email to h.lunnon@uea.ac.uk.
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