Read about my recent, current and planned work: research, talks, articles, books.
Planned, Current & Recent Work
24 September 2026 – talk to Dilton Marsh Local History Society on Discoveries in Salisbury Churches – identification of key discoveries of local and national interest, related to history and art, in churches within Salisbury and surrounding villages leading to the publication of a 264 page co-authored book last year. Items to be discussed range from a Medieval Eagle, Doom Paintings, Saxon inscriptions, 19th Century Stone Altars, Victorian Architects and objects such as the pictured chalice of George Herbert in the 1630s.
New Project from March 2026 – identifying the 50 Best Village Parish Churches in Wiltshire – I aim to visit all the main Parish Churches across the county in 2026 and possibly 2027, and then collate and publish in some form an annotated description of the Best 50 (probable number) in terms of history, architecture, art/beauty and internal ‘feel’. Details to be aired regularly on X, Bluesky & Instagram.
14 April 2026 – talk to Salisbury Lydians with Roy Bexon, Chair of Sarum Chronicle, on Salisbury Churches – sharing experience of photography as well as historical discoveries when visiting numerous churches in and around Salisbury.
Novel (work in progress 2025-2026), draft title A Voice Not An Echo – A contemporary retelling of the Greek myth of Echo and Narcissus, set in the UK in 2002-2003 during the protests against the imminent invasion of Iraq. The novel explores one woman’s attempt to find her voice, personally and politically, and escape the shadow of narcissistic abuse that she has experienced throughout most of her life.
15 February 2026 – talk for the Bratton History Society on Discoveries in Salisbury Churches, detailing the development and outcome of work undertaken with John Elliott and Roy Bexon to produce a 264 page book Churches of Salisbury & District, published in June 2025.
Talk at 4pm 15.2.26. at the Bratton Church Institute.
13 November 2025 – Annual Lecture for Sarum Chronicle local historical research journal, at Salisbury Museum 6.30 pm.
Lecture entitled “We’re All Doomed” exploring the history and meaning of Doom Paintings in England before the Reformation, including the Wiltshire Last Judgement paintings in Salisbury and Dauntsey.
September 2025 – History Talks x 4 for Athelstan Museum, Malmesbury, on Doom Paintings, Art of the Last Judgement, the Reformation, and the Dauntsey Doom in situ.
17 & 19 September at the Rausing Building (formerly the Moravian Church) in Malmesbury.
21 & 25 September at the Church of St James the Great, Dauntsey.
June 2025 – Publication and Launch Lecture of Churches of Salisbury and District – co-author of this 264 page book with John Elliott and Roy Bexon on behalf of Sarum Chronicle. 65+ churches included (two very different ones pictured here), as far south as Breamore, east as Borbach Chantry, west as Great Wishford and north as Idmiston, as well as all key city churches including the Cathedral & St Thomas’s. For each church there are short summaries and photographs, plus a gazetteer section of maps and routes for visits, glossary, bibliography, and a series of accompanying essays on what to find in churches as well as architectural and liturgical histories and a biography of TH Wyatt.
Publication was on 12 June 2025 at Salisbury Methodist Church. Available on all Salisbury booksellers, including Cathedral, Museum and Tourist Centre.
14 & 16 November 2024 Talk and Follow-Up Visit – History Talk on 14.11.24. to the Royal Wootton Bassett History Society 7-8.45 on Doom Paintings and the Last Judgement, followed by visit to see the Doom at St James the Great, Dauntsey on 16.11.24. 11-12.30. Non members welcome.
November 2024 Journal Article – Wiltshire’s Last Judgements, co-written with Christopher Daniel, in the Sarum Chronicle, comparing the county’s two Doom Paintings, at St Thomas’s in Salisbury and St James the Great in Dauntsey, and identifying common features of Last Judgement Art in England and abroad. Each Doom is contrasted in relation to images of Christ, Saints, Heaven, Judgement of Souls, and Hell.
25 September 2024 Public Talk – now annual lecture on history at St James the Great in Dauntsey, North Wiltshire,. This year’s subject was the English Reformation, focusing on the period between Henry VIII beaconing Head of the Church in England, through the death of Thomas More, the Dissolution, Edward VIII and the Common Prayer Book, Rebellion in the West Country, Mary and the death of Cranmer, and the impact on liturgy, images in churches and other aspects of worship throughout that period and up to 1559.
November 2023 Journal Article – Pugin’s Salisbury Period, in the Sarum Chronicle. a 6500 word article summarising Augustus Pugin’s time in Salisbury in the 1830s when he converted to Roman Catholicism, designed and built his first house, St Marie’s Grange, collaborated with Charles Barry to produce the plans for the new Palace of Westminster, and published his first major book, Contrasts. A more detailed book of my work on Pugin in Salisbury will be published in 2024 by the Pugin Society. See also the blog post on this site summarising this work.
September 2023 Public Talk – The Dauntsey Doom, delivered to sell out audience at St James the Great, Dauntsey, Wiltshire. Focus of talk was The Last Judgement, Roods, Screens, Visual Images, Liturgy and Worship before the Reformation, Cromwell, Edward VI & Mary Tudor, Victorian Restorations, Analysis of Dauntsey Doom & Boards. To be repeated in 2024 with focus on the Reformation.
July 2023 Masters Graduation – received formal award in Lampeter, Wales, of Degree of Master of Arts in Medieval Studies (Distinction) at the University of Wales Trinity St David following four years of study. The Degree included a Dissertation on Augustus Pugin’s time in Wiltshire, and Assignments on Domesday, Lacock Abbey, Medieval Rural life in Wiltshire, the Dauntsey Doom, the Cistercians, Pilgrimages, the Constitutions of Clarendon, Thomas Becket, John of Salisbury, Marjory Kempe, and Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
Potential Other Work
Possible Pugin Society ‘True Principles’ publication of Augustus Pugin’s Salisbury Period, aimed for 2025/26, based upon my Dissertation on the same theme for the MA Medieval Studies at UWTSD, which brought together all previous research on Pugin’s links to and time living in Wiltshire, and will be the first stand-alone publication solely about his work when in Salisbury. Image shown is Pugin’s first designed house, St Marie’s Grange near Alderbury outside of Salisbury;
Possible future book ‘From Edinburgh to Ronnie Scott’s’, describing the Jazz Photography of my father who was for many years the main photographer at Ronnie Scott’s Club, the London Jazz Festival, Pizza Express Jazz in Soho, and the 606 Club in Chelsea, and exhibited at the Royal Albert Hall and in Paris. Image shown is McCoy Tyner at the Jazz Cafe in London by David Sinclair. Book aimed for 2025.
Possible future family history book ‘Cousins Over Land and Sea’, with contributions from several cousins regarding our shared genealogy from Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Some of the Genealogy posts on this site will be included. Book aimed for 2026.
