The Rural Parish in Late Medieval England
The 2026 Harlaxton Medieval Symposium
at Madingley Hall, Cambridge
Please note that this is a draft programme which may be subject to change.
Monday 17th August
1:00 pm Registration opens
1:30 pm Welcome
1:45 pm Introduction Robert Swanson
Session 1
2:00-3:30 pm
Barney Sloane: English Rural Benefices in the Black Death of 1348-9: Some Evidence for Administration and Communication
David Griffith: Reading Spaces: the Epigraphy of the Late Medieval Rural Parish Church in England
3:30-4:15 pm Tea/Coffee
Session 2
4:15-5:45 pm
Benjamin Thompson: Aliens in the Parish: French Monks in Medieval English Villages
Katie Hawks: Merton Priory and its Parishes
6:30 pm BBQ Dinner
8:00 pm Drinks Reception and PGR/ECR presentations
Tuesday 18th August
7:30-8:30 am Breakfast
Session 3
9:00-10:30 am
Zachary Stewart: The Rural Parish Church in Medieval England: Beyond an Additive Model of Architectural Development
Helen Lunnon: Parish Making: Local and “Amateur” Contributions to the Fabric and Furnishings of the Late Medieval English Parish Church
10:30-11:00 am Tea/Coffee
Session 4
11:00-12:30 pm
Rachael Harkes: Inter-parochial Relations in the Welsh Marches
Richard Asquith: Rural Parishes and London Merchants in Pre-Reformation England
12:30-1:15 pm Lunch
1:30 pm Excursion: Coach departs for visit to Chesterton and Cherry Hinton church (Lynne Broughton to guide)
Individual dinner arrangements (coach drop-off either in Cambridge or at Madingley Hall)
Wednesday 19th August
7:30-8:30 am Breakfast
Session 5
9:00-10:30 am
Lydia Fisher: Decorating the Rural Parish Church: the Evidence of Stained Glass in the South-West
David King: Edward IV, East Harling, and the N-Town Plays
10:30-11:00 am Tea/Coffee
Session 6
11:00-12:30 pm
Nicholas Orme: The Education of the Parish Clergy, 1250-1550
John Jenkins: Rural Pilgrimage and Rural Parishes in Medieval England
12:30-2:00 pm Lunch
Session 7: The Pamela Tudor-Craig Memorial Lecture
2:00-3:15 pm
Ian Forrest: A “Social Church” Paradigm for Parish Studies (with a Late Medieval Downland Case Study)
3:15-3:45 pm Tea/Coffee
Session 8
3:45-5:15pm
Peter Clarke: The Foot-soldiers of the Late Medieval English Church: Parochial Chaplains on the Front-line
Sarah McKeagney: The Summoner and Rural Authority in the Diocese of Canterbury
7:00 pm Reception and Book Launch
7:30 pm Conference Dinner (black tie optional)
Thursday 20th August
7:30-8:30 am Breakfast
8:30-9:00 am Check out of rooms
Session 9
9:00-10:30 am
David Lepine: Rural Rectories as Centres of Agricultural Production: the Evidence of Probate Inventories
Joanna Mattingly: Church Ales as a Rural Institution in the Late Medieval and Early Modern Period
10:30-11:00 am Tea/Coffee
Session 10
11:00 am-12:30 pm
Tanya Heath: The Experience of Confession in the Late Medieval Rural Parish
Robert Swanson: Country Pastors: Feeding the Sheep, Tending the Flocks
12:30 pm Closing remarks