Worked in Stone

In 2018, the project was awarded a major grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council to complete the project and to support a range of other profiles raising activities.

Conference

A conference held in 2022 brought together over 120 participants. Thirty-seven speakers presented on a wide range of new perspectives on British, Irish and European carved stone sculpture, from sourcing and production to digital approaches to recording, and iconography, meaning.

The conference proceedings are now published and can be purchased from Boydell Press. Hawkes and S. Semple (eds), 2025. Early Medieval Sculpture in Stone. Woodbridge: Boydell Press.

The volume includes multidisciplinary scholarship showcasing innovative methods for working with sculptural material – with essays ranging from Merovingian funerary art to Old English and Scandinavian runic inscriptions. The new approaches to sculpture studies found in this volume range from rethinking late antique influences to exploring how sculpture was used and encountered in a variety of political and cultural contexts; contributors also draw out the dialogues inherent in form and decoration within and across temporal and national boundaries. Fresh perspectives on iconographies, narrative art, sculpture and nature and the power of sculpture in multi-media environments, alongside studies of sourcing, production and portability, and the afterlives of carved stones, reflect the vibrancy of current research and the way in which it now integrates digital, scientific and spatial methods.

Workshops

The AHRC award facilitated three workshops aimed at addressing key questions of curation, protection, care and public engagement.

Early Medieval Sculpture: new approaches, methods and audiences

College Court, University of Leicester, 9th-10th April 2019

The first workshop at Leicester served as an introduction to the projects (CASSS and WIST), outlining the scope of both, and profiling the value of sculpture as a resource. The workshop brought together twenty-four individuals, some long-term and early career academic researchers on early medieval sculpture, and others involved in organisations or projects involved in thinking about different ways of museum communication around sculptural collections and pathways for community involvement. Deidre O’Sullivan (University of Leicester) introduced research around the spoliation/break-up and of early medieval sculpture in the centuries following the Norman conquest, reflecting on how biographical approaches to sculpture might help in terms of narrating and communicating the stories of sculptural pieces and collections to different audiences. Paul Everson (Honorary Researcher/Professor Universities of Keele and Durham) and David Stocker (Honorary Professor, University of Leeds) followed, discussing the evidence for the sourcing and manufacture of sculptures. The cultural hybridity of the Drosten Stone, St Vigeans was discussed next by Jane Geddes (University of Aberdeen), and the biographical theme rounded off by Nancy Edwards (University of Bangor) on building Welsh sculptural biographies and reflections from Jackie Hall on the remarkable pre-Conquest sculptural collections that survived at Peterborough Abbey despite a major Norman rebuilding programme. In the afternoon, papers and discussion turned to different pathways and projects centred on engaging different audiences with sculptural material. Roger Lang (Honorary Researcher/PhD student Durham University_ discussed his work on using photogrammetry to engage learners in early medieval history. Peter Liddle (former Leicestershire County Archaeologist) introduced the work of LARC and community-centred research in Leicestershire and Bob Trubshaw (Project Gargoyle) followed with a practical example through Project Gargoyle of how community volunteers can be trained and mobilised – in this case in reconfiguring the medieval figural carvings of Leicestershire and Rutland. Armand de Fillippo (PhD student, University of Leicester) gave the group much to consider with an example of rewilding medieval art, through interactive and immersive museum installations on medieval manuscripts involving sound, smell, and touch. The presentations were rounded off by Tom Freshwater from the National Trust who discussed how historic collections can be used as stimuli for artists to connect with audiences. A round table followed where ideas were put forward and emerged, stimulated by the papers, on different ways sculptural collections might be displayed, engaged with and different narratives and stories that might capture public/community attention.

The Art of Anglo-Saxon Sculpture: Its Presentation, Curation, and Care

King’s Manor, University of York, 27th–28th of September 2019

This workshop brought together sixteen participants including art, archaeology and legal specialist, with parish/public curators of local collections. Jane Hawkes (University of York) introduced Anglo-Saxon Sculpture in terms of its survival, often in fragmentary states, displayed or stored in churches. She noted the limited display of such material in UK museums, and the large role local/parish curation and care plays in the protection of such collections in parish churches. The importance of this significant body of material as national heritage was underlined alongside its vulnerability. Emma Waring followed speaking on mapping the legal landscape affecting the protection of heritage sculpture. The legal treatment of sculpture was highlighted as an uncharted territory, with protection highly contingent upon location. Churches were highlighted as incumbent temporary custodians, with churchwardens the legal owners of movable items. Leslie Webster’s (Former Curator British Museum/CASSS Advisory Committee) paper followed on care and curation with a focus on the vulnerability of sculpture to loss of context, risks around theft and the protection of sculptural items from sale into private ownership with well-known attempted examples of sale such as Croft discussed. The National Committee for Carved Stones in Scotland was introduced next by Sally Foster (University of Sterling), alongside the principles for the display of museum collections of early medieval carved stones by Peter Yeoman. Future thinking on carved stones in Scotland was underway with SCARF with emphasis on understanding, valuing, caring and engagement. Materiality, composite biography, landscape context, monumentality, association with place, interpretation, preservation in situ were all emphasised as key concerns as well as the preservation and care of early plaster casts of sculpture which represented vital resources for understanding the development of sculpture studies and objects that often captured lost details of carvings. The papers were rounded off with a consideration by Chris Caple (Durham University) of the threats, value and resources inherent in stone conservation projects. Frost, salts, crusts, acid rain, vegetation roots, vandalism, iron dowels, cracking and algae were all highlighted as threats, but also how cleaning and conservation, if insensitive, can also be damaging. The tensions between in situ preservation and the loss of context through removal to more stable environments was also highlighted. The event was rounded off with a discussion involving parish curators on the needs around information on both the sculptures and on care and protection at a local level.

Anglo-Saxon Sculpture: Presentation, Curation and Care

University of Kent, Canterbury, 28th March 2020

In this more focused and final workshop in the AHRC-WIST project series, representatives of a range of organisations and projects that involved different strategies for crowd-sourcing and engaging volunteers, and the public in heritage profiled their work and were asked to reflect on advice and possible strategies for the CASSS and WIST projects in terms of follow on work to better communicate the importance of the resource and in terms of broader presentation, curation and care. This also centred on a first showcase of the new online Archaeology Data Service online project resource, with feedback on the prototype site.

Michael Carter (English Heritage) spoke first on the HE presentation of three sites: St Augustine’s Canterbury, Whitby Abbey and Muchelney Priory all with challenges around religious heritage, built heritage and spolia. In developing visitor experiences and communicating information to the public, he emphasised the need to think about reaching multiple audiences e.g. ‘culture seekers,’ ‘experience seekers’ and ‘child pleasers’. In redeveloping St Augustine’s there had been a need to balance traditional approaches and displays (text and information rich) with digital experiences and VR opportunities were integrated to enable people to engage with reconstructions of the interior of the nave with games/games-based apps for children. The project was developed and co-produced with Canterbury students giving them real and tangible input into the redisplay for their experience and CVs. Whitby Abbey was an example of how promotional work around an asset might hinge on a small but important element of the intangible heritage, in this case the connection with Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Finding a compelling story is critical to broadening engagement in the place, asset or collection. Finally, the example of Muchelney Abbey demonstrated the heavy lifting needed to create an exciting experience around a ruined site. Here connecting the site to Ine and Athelstan allowed HE to tell a story around characters and events that could draw visitors into the life of the site and its biographies biography. Ann Preston Jones (Historic England) and Andrew Langdon spoke next giving a review of the challenges around sculpture in Cornwall making a broader point around the need to think carefully about establishing longevity of care to ensure these carved monuments remain safe in their locations, remain valued and that community curation is sustained in the long term. A range of case studies were discussed which covered crosses being returned to their original settings, restoration in situ, deterioration of Victorian repairs and need to reset crosses due to metal corrosion. A microchipping project had also been initiated to create greater security around the monuments as a community/commercial unit-based collaboration. Most recently the team had worked with community partners to create photogrammetric models which had been a great way of engaging volunteers in data capture using a vibrant HER volunteer base. This project is a way of engaging new people in researching and caring for the monuments, but also a method for monitoring condition including climatic damage and erosion if undertaken periodically. The next speaker, Andy Bliss (Aldwic Research Consultancy), presented on practical advice on caring for and protecting heritage assets from damage, theft and vandalism. He flagged the potential to co-produce more dedicated advice documents for community curators, such as those on ‘Heritage Crime Prevention’ and to link these to existing advice on risk assessments and protection. Security measures such as fixing sculpture in place and CCTV as well as marking or chipping sculpture were all introduced as useful deterrents. Andy rounded off though emphasising that the most critical and effective approach is to instil sense of the cultural and local value of the items in the community to create a sense of community responsibility and care (like Neighbourhood Watch). Regular visits and presence by people is a deterrent. Regular checking would also prevent thefts going unnoticed for months. Providing information packs to community curators or a link to a resources site could be a good way forward along with the guidance on doing a risk assessment of the assets using the HE advice and information on Heritage Watch & Confident Contact which ensures if an act of vandalism and theft is reported, those reporting can be confident it will be acted on. https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/theft-metal-church-roofs-prevention-response/heag306-theft-metal-church-roofs-prevention-response/

Home – Heritage Watch

The final speaker, Jo Elders (Churchcare, Church of England) introduced a range of active digital projects. These began with the aim to put Church of England Records online with the development of the Church Heritage Record (Churches – Online Faculty System (churchofengland.org)). This was then expanded using commercial collaboration mapping churchyards, linking graves to ancestry data, but also working together with volunteers to record aspects of the natural and cultural heritage in the church and churchyard. There were clear opportunities to link online with the Corpus and learn from the volunteer co-production around populating digital entries.

About us (religioscape.com).

Future for Religious Heritage’s article about RELIGIOSCAPE: A new international charity for the recording and protection of religious heritage – Future for Religious Heritage (frh-europe.org)

The afternoon involved a showcase of the prototype website, and discussion around website development, the creation of a new landing page, developing stories for the landing page that attract engagement, short videos and models, app for phone use. Links to existing projects were also flagged, including Religioscope as well as pathways for dissemination and engagement, from online guides to annual events to promote checking and engagement with locally curated collections in churches.