Abstract:

In a session held jointly with the seminar Architectural History (SAHGB/IHR) and the Women’s History seminar (IHR), a panel of researchers who are leaders in the field of women in building construction will discuss and debate the role of women in the building trades in the Early Modern Period. Questions and issues which have reoccurred in historical research over many years will be considered. What trades did women undertake? Did women learn and exercise building skills? Did they apply them on site or in workshops (were they hands-on?)? The historical record is very uneven and often unclear. Historians have questioned whether it can be assumed that a woman named as a carpenter, plumber, mason, etc. actually was. Long-standing issues of widows, apprenticeship and women in business as builders will be aired and interrogated from the different perspectives of speakers.  

For the history of women in building construction in Britain and Ireland in the Early Modern Period, the discussion brings together Linda Clarke, Conor Lucey, Amy Erickson, and Kirsty Wright and Elizabeth C. Biggs with an overview of European gender-based practices from Shelley E. Roff. After short papers of ten minutes the panellists will follow up with a discussion of issues arising from the presentations, both contested and agreed, with those attending the seminar in-person and online invited to take part.

Recording:

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This symposium – organised jointly by The Courtauld, the University of Kent, and the SAHGB – celebrates the extraordinary work and legacy of Mark Girouard (1931-2022), one of Britain’s greatest architectural historians, whose work continues to revolutionise the scope and perceptions of the discipline both within academia and beyond. Mark’s knowledge and expertise were as eclectic as they were ground-breaking, whilst his infectious passion and willingness to share them with, and foster them in others, was truly remarkable. Several generations of architectural historians have benefitted from, and indeed have been formed by, his support and writings. It will provide an opportunity for some of the leading architectural historians of Britain and Ireland to both reflect on how the vast corpus of Mark’s work has influenced their own thinking in the past, and, most importantly, to present new research and novel insights within the various fields impacted by Mark’s writing.

The symposium has been planned to take place as part of the foundational year of the SAHGB Girouard Fund, established in Mark’s name to support publications, research and programmes in architectural history.

Opened with addresses given by the Märit Rausing Director of The Courtauld, Mark Hallett, and Blanche Girouard, the day will commence with a keynote paper given by Maurice Howard (University of Sussex), followed by three sessions, each covering a different realm impacted by Mark’s scholarship and academic influence. The sessions range from sixteenth-century architecture to present and future concerns in architectural history, and will consider Mark’s influence on subjects as various as Early Modern state apartments; the study and perception of the Irish country house; Victorian pubs; and modern architecture in the pages of Country Life.

The conference convenors are Manolo Guerci (University of Kent); Kyle Leyden (The Courtauld Institute) and Elizabeth McKellar (SAHGB President).

Speakers will include: Gordon Higgott (former English Heritage), Emily Cole (Historic England), Margot Finn (UCL), Frances Sands (Sir John Soane’s Museum), Patricia McCarthy (Trinity College, Dublin), John Martin Robinson (College of Arms), Edward McParland (Trinity College, Dublin), Andrew Saint (The Bartlett), Michael Hall (Apollo Magazine), Alan Powers (The 20 th Century Society), and Jeremy Musson (former Country Life).