We are pleased to announce our 2023 conference on 'The Church in North West Britain and its Connections’, which will be held between 15th - 17th September at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.

 

The church in North West Britain will be the theme of the Society for Church Archaeology’s annual conference for the first time in the society’s history. Covering the north-western seaboard of England, Scotland, and Wales, this region has a long and complex history of church and ecclesiastical sites which do not always or easily mirror the changes and continuities noted in other, arguably more well-researched and well-excavated areas, of Britain and Ireland. Reflecting centuries of cultural exchange around the Irish Sea, not least with western Ireland, the North West has its own rich heritage, combining influences from the south-west of Britain, Ireland, and Scandinavia. However, site-specific connections beyond the region are also well-attested, such as Chester and York, Liverpool and Dublin, St Asaph cathedral and Westminster Abbey, and more broadly, Cumbria and the Isle of Man, although by no means exhaustive of regional connections within and beyond the North West. From its earliest medieval origins to its most recent church heritage, this conference aims to include the widest range of periods and places, connections or isolations, from this complex and vibrant region.

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The Society for Church Archaeology is very pleased to confirm that the University of Liverpool will be our first annual conference partner and co-ordinated by members of the Liverpool Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (LCMRS). The conference itself will be held at the iconic Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. The Friday evening keynote and reception, sponsored by LCMRS, will be held in the university’s prestigious School of the Arts Library. A fieldtrip to Norton Priory, the most excavated monastic site in Europe, is scheduled for Sunday with full access to its extensive museum of finds and its walled garden.

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Conference programme and registration

Details to be confirmed.

 

Call for Papers

The Society for Church Archaeology would be delighted to consider papers on the theme of the Church in North West Britain and its Connections for presenting in-person at the society’s annual conference 15th -17th September 2023.

 

Topics covered might include but are not limited to:

- Individual church/ecclesiastical sites

- Groups or networks of church/ecclesiastical sites

- Assemblages of material culture from or connected to church/ecclesiastical sites

- Heritage interpretations of church/ecclesiastical sites

- Reconstructing historic practices within or for church buildings (e.g. music, song, reading, scents etc.)

- Church furniture

- Church monuments (singular or plural)

- Churchyards and burial practice

 

Abstracts should be 200 words (max.) and emailed to scaconference2023@outlook.com by 1 May 2023.

For further enquiries, please contact scaconference2023@outlook.com

 

General Programme (Full schedule to follow inc. times)

Friday 15th September 2023 Evening Keynote and Reception Venue: School of the Arts Library, 19 Abercromby Square, University of Liverpool campus.

Saturday 16th September 2023 Society for Church Archaeology Conference Papers Venue: Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.

Sunday 17th September 2022 Fieldtrip to Norton Priory, Runcorn inc. museum and walled garden. www.nortonpriory.org

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