S03E03: Churches

The C Word (MP3 Feed)

C is for: Churches and Congregations

We’re joined by guest host Janet Berry and get enthused about church architecture, ecclesiastical heritage, and how to look after the treasures we can find in places of worship. Christina interviews James Hales from UCL about his research about bats in churches, and Jenny talks to Rachel Morley from Friends of Friendless Churches and the Churches Conservation Trust about the joy of working with old church buildings.

00:00:46 News in brief
00:01:33 Jenny’s first conservation experience revealed
00:06:45 The canary in the cage
00:08:29 The conservator’s role and the importance of communication
00:10:34 Demystifying the term ‘faculty’
00:15:12 Funding availability for church conservation
00:19:56 Loans and ecclesiastical objects in museums
00:21:31 The joys and headaches of working in-situ
00:26:56 Terriers, logbooks, and quinquennial inspection reports
00:30:18 Documentation and aftercare
00:34:56 Interview with James Hales
00:54:56 Church graffiti and the importance of stories
00:57:23 Interview with Rachel Morley
01:07:26 Spiritual places as intangible experiences
01:09:38 Comments, questions, and corrections: a listener story about working in churches
01:12:14 Call for sound bites: international snippets!
01:13:55 Patreon shout-out!

Show Notes:
– Government To Fund £1.8m Pilot Scheme Supporting Sustainability of Listed Places of Worship: https://icon.org.uk/news/government-to-fund-ps18m-pilot-scheme-supporting-sustainability-of-listed-places-of-worship
– Call for papers for the 14th International Symposium on Wood and Furniture Conservation: https://www.iiconservation.org/node/7533
– Church Care: http://www.churchcare.co.uk/
– Terriers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glebe_terrier
– What is a Quinquennial Inspection? http://www.churchcare.co.uk/churches/guidance-advice/looking-after-your-church/quinquennial-inspections
– Using the Church of England Record Centre: http://www.lambethpalacelibrary.org/content/cerc
– The Courtauld Institute of Art Wall Paintings Conservation Faculty: https://courtauld.ac.uk/research/sections/wall-painting-conservation
– Bats and Churches Partnership: https://www.batsandchurches.org.uk/
– Cambridgeshire church plague graffiti reveals ‘heartbreaking’ find: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-31459761
– Friends of Friendless Churches: http://friendsoffriendlesschurches.org.uk/
– Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings: https://www.spab.org.uk/
– The Churches Conservation Trust: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/

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Hosted by Jenny Mathiasson, Kloe Rumsey and Janet Berry.

Intro and outro music by DDmyzik used under a Creative Commons Attribution license. Additional sound effects and music by Calum Robertson.

Made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.

A Wooden Dice production, 2018.