Lisa zooms in on the magnificent Bishops' palaces of England

As part of a series of Zoom lectures, the Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust (YHCT) is delighted to be joined by Lisa McIntyre at 7pm on Thursday 21 March, who will be presenting on The Bishops’ Palaces of England.

Lisa graduated with distinction from the Architectural Association in 2012. She has subsequently worked as a heritage consultant for Alan Baxter & Associates as an officer for the Church Buildings Council and is currently the DAC secretary for the Diocese of Leeds.

The bishops of medieval England wielded great power and their residences were often as splendid as those built for royalty. This talk will explore the rise and fall of the palace and the bishops who inhabited them and put their mark on them, with a particular focus on palaces in the North of England.

All are welcome to join the YHCT for what promises to be a fascination exploration of the subject. Details of the Zoom login details can be found at www.yhct.ork.uk/events

Lisa explained: “Some of palaces I'll be talking about are Bishopthorpe (still in use as the Archbishop of York’s residence), Durham and Auckland Castle (both former residents of the Bishop of Durham) and Rose Castle (former residence of the Bishop of Carlisle).

“I'll talk generally about the development of the palaces across the country but focusing in more detail on those in the North as examples. Auckland Castle and Durham Castle are two examples that can still be readily accessed by members of the public, so I hope people might be inspired to visit them by hearing some of their history.

“I became interested in the topic because I've been fascinated by medieval castles since I was young; the interest in bishops' palaces came about when I worked for a consultancy which won a job to write reports about several of the palaces for the Church Commissioners, who provide housing for bishops.
“I subsequently chose the palaces more generally for my Building Conservation dissertation. They have some really wonderful architecture and some interesting stories to go along with them.”

Previous Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust Zoom talks have included an exploration of the medieval wall painting at Pickering Church, a look at Arts and Crafts churches around Great Britain and a study of church textiles through the ages. All lectures can be watched again via the website www.yhct.org.uk/events.

The Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust is a charity whose objective is to help churches in Yorkshire through offering grants for repairs and maintenance. The Trust relies on the generosity of donors and Friends and although the lectures are free, donations are most welcome to help the Trust ensure they can continue to provide financial assistance to churches and chapels of all Christian denominations and of any age to help preserve and repair their buildings.