Meetings & Events: Annual Conference
2013 Annual Conference
Westminster: architecture, archaeology, sculpture and painting
Programme
The 2013 Conference embraced the royal palace and abbey of Westminster, covering the archaeology, history and art history of the complex of religious and secular structures occupying the Island of Thorney, from their origins to the fire of 1834.
A full programme of lectures and visits included access to parts of the Abbey, School and Palace that are not open to the public. The conference dinner was be held in the 14th-century abbots’ private hall (now College Hall), and there was be another dinner in the Houses of Parliament.
Speakers
Speakers included: Jeremy Ashbee, Steven Brindle, Nicola Coldstream, Mark Collins, John Crook, Richard Foster, John Goodall, Roland Harris, Edward Impey, Virginia Jansen, John McNeil, Richard Mortimer, Julian Munby, Warwick Rodwell, Marie Louise Sauerberg, Jane Spooner, Tim Tatton-Brown, Pamela Tudor-Craig and Christopher Wilson.
Site visits
Delegates had open access to the Abbey, and the arranged site visits included: Norman Undercroft, Pyx Chamber, Shrine of Edward the Confessor, Coronation Chair, Cosmati pavements, Chapter House, Jerusalem Chamber, Library and Museum. There were visits to parts of Westminster School, including the remaining medieval fragments, and Ashburnham House. Visits to the Palace included Westminster Hall, St Mary Undercroft, St Stephen’s Cloister and the Jewel Tower.
The conference will be non-residential, but details of local hotels will be supplied for those who need to book accommodation.