Research network: Critical Conservation and Church Communities

By Dr James Hales, Senior Teaching Fellow in conservation, UCL Institute of Archaeology

Thanks to the CCHS Small Grants Scheme, James Hales will hold his first meeting on November 1 at UCL IAS, room G17 . His project is about a Research Network: "Critical Conservation and Church Communities. The maintenance and conservation of historic places of worship and their impact on current and future communities"

What will be the central focus of a research network?

The research network will act as a think-tank for applied research into the care of places of worship. This will frame a critical approach to churches as integrated complex systems that need to be cared for, rather than a set of component parts that need to be preserved. In a broader critical review of 'conservation for church mission' the research network will address the need for diverse non-congregational participation in church life. This research will examine the potential rediscovery of traditional management systems ruptured by congregation declines, rural depopulations, and urban migrations. It will consider the transition of church buildings from sacred to secular, from heritage to contemporary places of community focus.

The research network will explore fundamental questions relating to the care and development of church buildings and their communities such as: who determines conservation strategies for historic church buildings ? For whose benefit are decisions about the conservation and maintenance of historic churches being made? Who's past is being preserved and whose future is being created? Who is included, and by definition who is excluded?

Who will be involved?

Potential partners include: Church Buildings Council, UCL Institute of Archaeology, CCHS, University of Gothenburg (Department of Conservation), Church of Sweden, University of York (Centre for the Study of Christianity and Culture), SPAB (The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings), CCT (Churches Conservation Trust), NCT (National Churches Trust).

Photo © James Hales: Interior of St Nicholas'Church, Stanford-on-Avon.