The Archbishop, the Antiquarian and the Wall Paintings of Pickering Church
Monday 28 October 2019, 12.00PM
Speaker(s): Dr. Kate Giles
Abstract
In 1852, a series of remarkably well-preserved wall paintings were discovered during restoration work in St. Peter's church, Pickering. Despite interest from local and national experts, the vicar, the Rev. John Ponsonby was horrified by the discovery and attempted to destroy the scheme. When they were re-uncovered by Rev. George Herbert Lightfoot in the 1880s, they underwent a controversial restoration, which coloured perceptions of their significance and informed radical approaches to their conservation in the twentieth century.
In this lecture, Kate will reflect on how Pickering's story adds new layers of understanding to the story of wall paintings in the parish church, and how her research has revealed the hidden medieval meanings of the paintings, the subject of her forthcoming book.
Dr Kate Giles (BA, MA, PhD, York) is a buildings archaeologist with a specialism in the recording, archival research and theoretical interpretation of historic buildings. She is particularly interested in the relationship between people, places and possessions and in the archaeology of 'public' buildings, such as guildhalls, town halls village halls from the middle ages to the present day. Kate trained as an historian and art historian and had a brief spell as an archivist at the Borthwick Institute for Archives, before discovering buildings archaeology at the University of York, where she did her MA and PhD before joining the Department full-time in 2002. Between 2000-2015, she was York Minster Archaeology Research fellow. As Director of the MA in Archaeology of Buildings, she is passionate about the potential of buildings archaeology and buildings history to enhance understanding of the significance of historic buildings, and to inform their management, interpretation and display to the wider public. This approach is evident in her own research, and that of her research students who work on a wide range of historic building types and research issues.
Location: K/133