Conferences
The Group's conferences are where members meet to study buildings and discuss their findings. Conferences are open to all members.
Spring Conferences
In the spring we meet in a different part of the country each year to visit a selection of buildings in the local vernacular tradition. Local experts are on hand to explain the background and more experienced members help others to interpret them. In the evenings, lectures and discussions allow the day's findings to be explored further.
Recent spring conference venues:
- 2000 - Staffordshire
- 2001 - Suffolk
- 2002 - Ireland-Dublin
- 2003 - Essex
- 2004 - Yorkshire
- 2005 - North Wales
- 2006 - Somerset
- 2007 - Cambridgeshire
- 2008 - Devon
- 2009 - Jersey
- 2010 - Northumbria
- 2011 - Oxfordshire
Future spring conferences include:
- 2012 - East Midlands: 10-14 April 2012
- 2013 - South-West Wales: 25-29 June 2013 (note later-than-usual date)
- 2014 - Gloucestershire
- 2015 - Cumbria
- 2016 - Lincolnshire
Spring Conference Bursaries
Bursaries are offered each year to enable a registered student or a professional in the early years of his or her career to attend the spring conference. Details on how to apply for a bursary for the next Spring Conference will be published here in due course.
Winter Conferences
The winter conference takes a theme of current interest and explores it in depth through papers given by experts in the field.
Recent winter conference themes include:
- 1999 - The Use of Tree-ring Dating for Research
- 2000 - Vernacular Architecture and Related Fields
- 2001 - The Transition from the Medieval to the Early-Modern House Revisited
- 2002 - News From the Regions
- 2003 - VAG 50th Anniversary Conference: Celebration and Speculation
- 2004 - Vernacular Buildings and the Church
- 2005 - Buildings, Rebuildings and Vernacular Thresholds
- 2006 - Houses of Mud and Earth
- 2007 - Towns and Town Houses 1000-1700
- 2008 - Marginal Architecture
- 2009 - The Polite Threshold
- 2010 - Service Rooms, Servants' Chambers, and Storage
Winter Conference 2011/2012
This year's conference, entitled 'Where, When and Why? - Themes and Ideas in Vernacular Architecture Studies inspired by J T Smith', took place on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 January 2012 at the Gilbert Murray Conference Centre and John Foster Hall, University of Leicester. We hope to make as many as possible of the conference presentations available on this website - please see the Winter Conference 2011/2012 page.
Winter Conference Bursaries
Bursaries are offered each year to enable a registered student or a professional in the early years of his or her career to attend the winter conference. Details on how to apply for a bursary for the next Winter Conference will be published here in due course.
Oxford Weekend Schools
The Group contributes to an annual weekend school held in Oxford in the autumn and run by the Oxford University Department of Continuing Education. It is open to the public and topics have included:
- The Vernacular Workshop - from craft to industry, 1400-1900
- Housing for the Masses, 1800-2000
- Diffusion and Invention - vernacular building in England and the New World
- Estate Building: The Impact of Estates on the Built Landscape
- Vernacular Interiors in the British Tradition
- Markets and Market Places
- Medieval Domestic Cultures
- The Eighteenth Century Town House
The next weekend school will be held on Friday 28 to Sunday 30 September 2012 on the topic of Medieval Communal Life and its Buildings. Further information and details of how to book can be found on the Oxford University Department of Continuing Education web pages.
Tip: if all the residential places on weekend schools are already taken, you may be able to find alternative student accommodation in Oxford at various prices via budgetstayuk.
Other Conferences and Visits
Saeters and Stave Churches
The group organised a tour to Norway on 16-26 June 2011 to visit some of its notable timber buildings - and also see something of the scenery and the country. These images of Norwegian houses and scenery were sketched by VAG member Malcolm Birdsall some twenty-five years ago (copyright reserved).
