Annual Research Grant

The Society for Church Archaeology invites applicants for its annual research grant. The amount
requested should not exceed £1,500 and application is open to members of the Society proposing a research project, including fieldwork where appropriate, in any area of church archaeology.
Applications from those outside the Society will also be considered, so long as they become a
member, if successful. 

 

The grant can cover, or contribute to, research expenses, including travel, materials and accommodation, but not capital equipment nor the applicant’s salary (although specialist’s fees are eligible). The Society is pleased to accept applications for pilot projects; funding to help attract larger grants; discrete projects within the framework of a larger project; and small stand-alone projects. We welcome applications from academics, professionals, non-professionals and particularly from early career scholars and postgraduate students (although the Society will not cover university fees).

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How to Apply

Please read the Notes for Applicants, which outlines the conditions of the grant, and use the application form provided below. Applicants should email the form to Dr Kristján Ahronson at kristjan.ahronson@alumni.utoronto.ca by November 30th each year. Decisions are made in January of the following year.

• Notes for applicants

• Grant application form

• Referee form

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Previous awards

• 2023: Aleksandra McClain, University of York, 'Developing mortar dating methodologies for medieval buildings: a case study in Anglo-Saxon and Norman churches in Yorkshire' AND Liam Devlin, British Institute at Ankara, 'The monastery of Mar Behnam: social cohesion and religious unity in post-ISIS Iraq'

• 2022: Megan Leake, Newcastle University, 'Jarrow Monastery: secure dates and refining contexts through faunal remains'

• 2021: Margherita Riso, University of Leicester, 'In the footsteps of early Christian rural communities (4th-9th centuries AD): exploring a sacred landscape in central Sicily combining digital technologies and experimental archaeology'

• 2020: Indigo Reeve, University of Edinburgh, 'Persistence of post-Reformation use of the ecclesiastical landscape at Whitefriars Carmelite Friary'

• 2019: no award

• 2018: Joanna Caruth,  Suffolk Archaeology, 'Research and scientific analysis into late Saxon polychrome tiles recovered during community excavations at Court Knoll in Suffolk'

• 2017: Solange Bohling, University of Bradford, 'Physical impairment and disability in later Anglo-Saxon England: Investigating differential mortuary treatment and the influence of the church'

• 2016: Bernadette McCarthy, University College Cork, 'Children in early medieval Irish ecclesiastical settlement: An archaeological perspective'

• 2015: Chantal Bielmann, University of Leicester, 'Surveying the Late Antique and Medieval Churches of Southern Ticino, Switzerland'

• 2014: Cat Jarman, Bristol University, 'Isotopic analysis of burials at Repton'

• 2013: Ben Russell, University of Edinburgh and Corisande Fenwick, University of Leicester, 'Tunisian-British Bulla Regia Project'; Kori Lea Filipek-Ogden, Durham University, 'Assessing leprosy stigma in medieval England'

• 2012: Christina Welch, University of Winchester, 'Cadaver tombs at St Leonard's, Woollaton (Notts)'; Matilde Grimaldi, 'Sculptural decoration in Tortosa, Spain'

• 2011: Emma Wells, Durham University, 'Synaesthesia in medieval pilgrimage'

• 2010: Brent Fortenberry, Boston University, 'Excavation of the grave of Sir Jacob Wheate, St Peter's Church, Bermuda'

• 2009: David Petts, Durham University, 'Mapping Early Christianity in Western Normandy'

• 2009: Kimberley Thornhurst, Bangor University, 'Cross sculpture in south-east Ireland, c.400-1200'