Recognising that sister organisations at times host talks potentially of interest to our members, occasionally we will link to what will be labelled as External Events. Clicking the link will take you through to third parties - in this case to the Georgian Group - where you can find more information and register here. 

Epidemic disease is largely a phenomenon of urban life. Though the early modern understanding of the biological vectors of transmission was in its infancy, it was clear that cities, their buildings and rivers, were agents in spreading disease. Long-established methods of infection control – such as quarantine and the use of pest-houses – were gradually augmented with attempts to build a healthy environment. This talk considers epidemics related to their urban settings. Drawing on the London’s Great Plague, the Marseilles Plague, and the nineteenth century Cholera Pandemics, Ann-Marie will illustrate past and present resonances between the reactions of populations to epidemic disease. Freedom and access to spaces is a key theme because epidemics affect individuals depending on exposure. In the seventeenth century, airy precincts lined the Thames in Westminster that was the locus of political power at Whitehall Palace, Westminster Abbey, and in aristocratic, and episcopal palaces, and Inns of Court. This contrasted with the City of London that was densely packed with mediaeval timber buildings. There, great houses had become overcrowded rat-infested tenements where hygiene was impossible. People walked rubbish-filled streets, encountering excrement and the rats it attracted. This talk argues histories of space as these teach lessons only partly learned: pandemic management necessitates timely command and control exercise of authority, shared knowledge, and direction, by designated individuals over assigned generous resources to addressing issues of governance and social inequality.

Ann-Marie Akehurst is an art and architectural historian, and currently Programmes Officer of the SAHGB. She formerly taught art and architectural history at the University of York and is now an independent researcher with interests in architecture related to place. She speaks internationally and has published on sacred space, on urban identity, and on the architecture of sickness and health broadly defined, in early modern Britain and Europe.