Lectures

OAHS Lecture Programme


Our annual lecture programme comprises 10 lectures.

From January and February our lectures will be online on Zoom, and members can book a place by clicking the link in the description in order to receive the link (sent out shortly before the lecture). Booking for these lectures is now open. The final lecture in March will be live at Rewley House and also available on Zoom.

For lectures held online using Zoom, booking is required. The list closes at midnight on the Sunday before the lecture or sooner if we reach capacity. As Zoom only allows 100 people to log in for each lecture, OAHS members will be given priority. One booking covers everyone who will be listening on one device, so your household companions are welcome to join you.

We will record each of the online lectures, if the speaker agrees, and the recording will be available for members shortly afterwards for about a month.

"This Remarkable Man": John Prideaux (1578-1650), Scholar, Teacher, Builder and Oxford College Head


Date: 19 November 2024
Time: 17.30-18.30
Lecturer: John Maddicott
Location: Rewley House
Cost: Free
No of Places: 110


This lecture is now over and there is no recording available.

Born into an unassuming farming family in Devonshire, John Prideaux gained a place at Exeter College and went on to become a famous scholar and teacher, one of Oxford's most successful college heads, and a major figure both in the university and in the church politics of his day. This talk surveys the very varied talents and activities of this many-sided man.

Dr John Maddicott is Emeritus Fellow in Mediaeval History at Exeter College. His biography of John Prideaux, Between Scholarship and Church Politics: The Lives of John Prideaux, 1578-1650, was published by OUP in 2021.

Iron Age Occupation and a Roman Villa Complex at Grove


Date: 03 December 2024
Time: 17.30-18.30
Lecturer: Francesca Giarelli
Location: Rewley House
Cost: Free
No of Places: 110


This lecture is now over and there is no recording available.

An ongoing excavation at Monks Farm, Grove has revealed substantial prehistoric occupation of the site. The affluence of the site in the Iron Age appears unbroken, transitioning into the Roman period where a series of Roman buildings were built with remnants of painted plaster surviving. The pinnacle of Roman occupation is the construction of a large aisled building with a probable bathhouse attached. The finds assemblage from this site has been exceptional, both from the prehistoric and Roman periods, hinting at a very rich site with possibly a ritual aspect.

Francesca Giarelli is a Project Officer at Red River Archaeology, which is based in Cardiff and operates throughout the UK.

'Family Jobbery': Clough Williams-Ellis in Oxford


Date: 14 January 2025
Time: 17.30-18.30
Lecturer: David Clark
Location: Online on Zoom
Cost: Free
No of Places: 110
Closing Date for Bookings: 12 January 2025


Booking for Zoom

Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis was one of the most well-known and celebrated architects of the twentieth century, largely because of his fantasy village of Portmeirion and its use for the setting of the TV series 'The Prisoner'. But his architectural career began in Oxford, where he obtained commissions for a handful of buildings through 'family jobbery' and recommendations from clients, many of whom were associated with the large Thackeray clan. The story of how this happened will be appearing in Oxoniensia in December 2024, but in this lecture, David Clark will present an additional layer of insight through the use of images not included in the published article.

David Clark is Secretary of the Oxfordshire Buildings Record, a former President of the Vernacular Architecture Group, and former Chair of OAHS’s Listed Buildings Sub-committee.

Temperance in Henley before the First World War


Date: 28 January 2025
Time: 17.30-18.30
Lecturer: Michael Redley
Location: Online on Zoom
Cost: Free
No of Places: 110
Closing Date for Bookings: 26 January 2025


Booking for Zoom

The temperance movement was woven strongly into the social and political life of Henley in Victorian and Edwardian times. This was a reaction in large part to the place of drink, in the form of malting, brewing and the number and variety of its licensed outlets back to the eighteenth century and beyond. The talk will consider what forms temperance took, its heroes, the tensions it created in the politics of the town, and its decline in the years before the First World War - questions which might also be asked about this important social movement in other towns in Oxfordshire.

Dr Michael Redley is a tutor in modern British history and politics at Oxford University Department for Continuing Education, and he lives in Henley.

Parish Church Patrons: Supporting your Church and Saving your Soul in Medieval England


Date: 11 February 2025
Time: 17.30-18.30
Lecturer: Eleanor Townsend
Location: Online on Zoom
Cost: Free
No of Places: 110
Closing Date for Bookings: 09 February 2025


Booking for Zoom

England’s medieval parish churches were once saturated with imagery, which has almost all been subsequently destroyed. Each image was paid for by someone, to beautify their church, but also in the hope of saving their soul after death. By exploring the different types of images once ubiquitous in parish churches, and the people responsible for them, this lecture will unlock a lost world.

Eleanor Townsend worked for 20 years at the V&A specialising in medieval art, co-curating the Medieval Galleries and the major exhibition, 'Gothic: Art for England 1400-1547'. She is currently completing a doctorate at the University of Oxford, focusing on a stone reredos in St Cuthbert’s, Wells.

An Unexpected Revival: Stained Glass in the Early 17th Century


Date: 25 February 2025
Time: 17.30-18.30
Lecturer: Mark Kirby
Location: Online on Zoom
Cost: Free
No of Places: 110
Closing Date for Bookings: 23 February 2025


Booking for Zoom

Mark Kirby examines the revival of stained glass in early 17th century England, and how it was the revival that should not have happened. He traces its rapid development and equally rapid collapse and looks at the fascinating phenomenon of Calvinist stained glass.

Dr Mark Kirby is Child-Shuffrey Research Fellow in Architectural History at Lincoln College, Oxford.

The Tom Hassall Lecture 2025: The Uffington White Horse: Exploring a Wonder of Britain


Date: 11 March 2025
Time: 17.30-18.30
Lecturer: David Miles and Simon Palmer
Location: Rewley House and Online on Zoom
Cost: Free
No of Places: 110
Closing Date for Bookings: 09 March 2025


Booking for Zoom

Who made Britain's oldest hill-figure and how has it survived over two thousand years?  In the 1990s, Oxford Archaeology's project provided some answers to these questions.  In 2023/4 OA returned to the White Horse to investigate the shifting shape and to ensure the survival of this iconic image.

David Miles was Director of the Oxford Archaeological Unit for many years, and later became Chief Archaeologist at English Heritage. His book The Land of the White Horse was published by Thames & Hudson in 2019.

Simon Palmer worked at Oxford Archaeology for over 40 years. He and David Miles with Gary Lock and Chris Gosden were authors of The Uffington White Horse and its Landscape (2015) on the 1990s investigations into the White Horse.

Image: CC Tyler Bell