The Centre for the Study of Christianity and Culture - CSCC

14/06/2024

24/05/2024

Check out all the latest on our AHRC-funded project: "Henry VIII on Tour" as we delve into Henry VIII's royal progresses 👑
https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/24335219.dig-take-place-petworth-house-part-henry-viii-project

This summer archaeologists will trace the footsteps of Henry VIII as they search for evidence of a lost Tudor wing at Petworth House.

08/05/2024

Did you know that Medieval York was home to a thriving Jewish community? Or that the celebrated scholar and rabbi YomTov was probably a 12th-century resident of the city?

Discover the pivotal role of the Jewish community in York’s history on 5 June. Explore well-known events such as the tragedy at Clifford’s Tower and lesser-known stories of everyday Jewish life in the past on a walking tour and talk with our own Dr Louise Hampson.

Discover the pivotal role of the Jewish community in York’s history with our walking tour and talk led by Louise Hampson of the University of York.

12/01/2024

Have you read this article in The Conversation UK? Have a look at one of our projects, featuring work done by Dr Louise Hampson and Dr John Jenkins: How a French rabbi helped build a thriving Jewish community in medieval York – before a shocking massacre.

Jewish communities still use liturgical poems written by the French rabbi known for having taught in York in the 12th century.

22/12/2023

🎉🎄 Happy Christmas from all of us at the Centre for the Study of Christianity & Culture! 🌟 Our journey of exploring Christian concepts and narratives that shape Britain's rich heritage continues. This year, we've had the privilege of collaborating with diverse partners, contributing to major research projects, and fostering connections with heritage organisations. Thank you for being a part of our community! Here's to a Christmas filled with cultural enrichment and a New Year of shared exploration 📚🏰 ⛪️

06/09/2023

🍁🐿️📚 What are you reading this autumn? We're looking forward to 'Bede and the Theory of Everything' https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/bede-and-the-theory-of-everything

Want to meet the author? Three opportunities detailed below!

(1) 27th Sept, 6pm. lecture by Prof. Michelle Brown, 'Bede and the Theory of Everything', to the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (The Common Room - former Mining Institute -Westgate Road, Newcastle) - open to members and guests, see https://www.newcastle-antiquaries.org.uk/index.php?pageId=277

(2) 30th Sept, St Peter’s Church, Monkwearmouth (10am eucharist commemorating Abbot Ceolfrith, followed at 11am by the Wearmouth Lecture by Michelle Brown, 'From Biscop to Bede – building the first university')

(3) 30th Sept, 3-5pm, lecture by Michelle Brown, ‘Bede, Codex Amiatinus and Northumbrian Book Culture’, Jarrow Hall Museum

This book investigates the life and world of Bede (c. 673–735), foremost scholar of the early Middle Ages and ‘the father of English history’. It examines his notable feats, including calculating the first tide-tables; playing a role in the creation of the Ceolfrith Bibles and the Lindisfarne ...

09/06/2023

🕎 You might know that Medieval York was home to a thriving Jewish community. But do you know which building was once a Victorian synagogue?
StreetLife York is conducting a Jewish York Walking Tour on Monday 12th June, 2:00pm - 4:00pm. Details here! ➡️ https://streetlifeyork.uk/events/jewish-york-walking-tour-0

17/05/2023

It seems this month, we're all talking about kings (in one century or another 😉). Why not grab a cup of tea and a slice of Victoria Sponge ☕️🍰 (and perhaps some Coronation Chicken 👑, we won't judge) and check out our latest project Henry VIII on Tour🎪🐴?

A new study aims to shed light on the royal tours of King Henry VIII, one of the most iconic - and controversial - figures in British history.

03/03/2023

💫 We often find that collaboration yields the best results, and this was certainly true with the scanning of The Yorkshire Museum's Hoard with Artec 3D Scanners Space Spider.

One is the Hoard bronze bust of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (image courtesy of York Museum Trust). The other is a 3D-printed, hand-painted replica of Marcus Aurelius bust (image courtesy of ThinkSee3D Ltd).

But how do you get from one to the other? With great teamwork, unparalleled expertise, and (of course!) the latest in cool tech 🤓 Images of scans courtesy of our own Heritage 360 tech team 🧑‍💻

Want to know more? Get the full story at: https://www.artec3d.com/cases/yorkshire-museum-ryedale-hoard

03/03/2023

👋 Our account might have been quiet, but we've been hard at work! Our latest project Henry VIII on Tour has just launched! This is a Arts and Humanities Research Council - AHRC funded "Henry VIII on Tour" project into Henry VIII's royal progresses.

Do follow to stay up-to-date on all the latest Henry-related news👑

01/03/2023

07/11/2022

🐿🍂 It's feeling very autumnal, and just as the squirrels gather their nuts we are also getting stocked up on supplies for dark winter nights 🌠

Right now you can get 30% off Routledge Books with code BOA30 until 20th November📚

May we suggest Dee Dyas, 'The Dynamics of Pilgrimage: Christianity, Holy Places and Sensory Experience' - now available in paperback 🤓

This book offers a systematic, chronological analysis of the role played by the human senses in experiencing pilgrimage and sacred places, past and present. It thus addresses two major gaps in the existing literature, by providing a broad historical narrative against which patterns of continuity and...

27/09/2022

Discoveries such as the Ryedale hoard remind us that the religious landscape of Roman Britain was complex and diverse. Religious beliefs and practices of var...

08/07/2022

Tomorrow we're hosting a A FREE Creative Writing Workshop at The Yorkshire Museum. Want to see more of our free events? Keep an eye on our website for all the latest. And don't forget to book your place in advance 😃

https://streetlifeyork.uk/

08/07/2022

Becket’s shrine in the Trinity Chapel at Canterbury Cathedral was destroyed in 1538, but we've put together some digital recreations so you can see how it would have looked! Check out: https://thebecketstory.org.uk/

On the Feast of the Translation of St Thomas of Canterbury we commemorate the service in 1220 in which his relics were moved from the Eastern Crypt to a much grander Shrine in the Trinity Chapel.

The Shrine was destroyed during the Reformation on the orders of Henry VIII, but today a candle marks the site where is once stood.

All are welcome to join our services:

🙏 12.30 Said Eucharist
🙏 17.30 Solemn Evensong

06/06/2022

11/05/2022

🌇🌆🏙🌃 How can businesses and other stakeholders revitalise and diversify daily life on Coney Street, drawing inspiration from its rich history? Working to understand the many uses (and users!) of Coney Street, we hope there will rich and thought-provoking discussion and ideas around the future of the street. Included is a visit to the street to bring the research to life!

Come share knowledge (and cake) with us tomorrow 😁🍰

13/04/2022

Oooh, lovely new handrails at St Mary's Church Beverley! 😍

Beautiful new handrails inviting you into church- thank you to our donor

01/04/2022

🎊 We are delighted to be working with St Augustine's Skirlaugh as a project partner as they have received the great news that their bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund has been successful! This three-year project will do some fabric repairs to this gem of a church, but is also exploring three story strands around their medieval, Victorian and modern history with events, activities, digital outputs and skills training for a young person through a digital apprenticeship. 🤓

Find out more: https://www.skirlaughchurch.org.uk/heritage-project

25/03/2022

🙌 Great news! One of our long-term partners, Hull Minster, has been awarded a grant by National Lottery Heritage Fund for their 'Revival- Back to Life' project to develop the interpretation of the fascinating finds from recent excavations: https://hullminster.org/backtolife

😄 We are delighted to be project partners with Hull to deliver displays and digital interpretation exploring the people who made Hull and who lived, worked and died in the parish. The displays will be developed as part of the exciting Trinity Rooms extension project and provide insights into everything from the medieval chapel which once stood here to the story behind a treasured china mug, beautifully hand-painted and lovingly repaired with iron bands after it got broken - who did it belong to and why did it mean so much? ☕️

11/01/2022

It's Day, and we're bringing you a Neolithic flint axe. 🪓 Made using hammer stones to knap a nodule into the rough desired shape, the ‘roughout’ was worked further to produce sharp edges and a functional tool. Get closer with our 3D scan below ⬇ https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/neolithic-flint-axe-f87bff930f374ffc8b5ce6a4fb2e05ce

This example was found by fieldwalking on arable farmland near to the River Thames, Oxfordshire. Fieldwalking is an archaeological process whereby individuals will walk across land, searching for artefactual remains. These will then be recorded either onto a custom grid or marked on an OS map before being submitted to the Portable Antiquities Scheme. The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) is managed by the British Museum and records archaeological finds discovered by the public. It’s searchable online database can be found at https://finds.org.uk/

This scan was recorded using the Artec Spider and produced in Artec 3D. This is the Hi-Resolution version of the model which may take a while to load. We are working on having both hi and low resolution versions of all our models for maximum accessibility.

Neolithic flint axes, like this, were made using hammer stones to knap a nodule into the rough desired shape. The ‘roughout’ would then be worked further to produce sharp edges and a functional tool. This example was found by fieldwalking on arable farmland near to the River Thames, Oxfo...

07/01/2022

Feeling a bit batty? 🦇 January dates are booked out, but the event is set to repeat in February! Check out Bat Conservation Trust for more details ⬇⛪

https://www.bats.org.uk/events/bats-for-heritage-professionals

'Bat awareness is important for anyone working or volunteering on heritage buildings. Based on guidance prepared by Historic England, Natural England, English Heritage, the National Trust and the Bat Conservation Trust.'

The Bat Conservation Trust was formed in 1990 as an umbrella organisation for the rapidly growing network of bat groups, providing support, training and advice.

25/12/2021

🎆 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” Matthew 2:1-2 (NKJV) ✨

🎄 Wishing you the merriest of Christmases. On earth peace, good will toward men.

15/12/2021

📢 Just in! We're looking for 8 Research Trainees for our new project 'Street Life' in York. The posts will take in different research strands relating to digital heritage and buildings history, music and performance, and letterpress printing. Details 👇 https://jobs.york.ac.uk/wd/plsql/wd_portal.show_job?p_web_site_id=3885&p_web_page_id=468431

15/12/2021

⛪ Have you seen our 'Hamper' of COVID-safe Christmas Ideas for churches? Easy-to-use, Advent & Christmas ideas for churches that have come through our research – along with others that have been collected from dioceses & other sources across the country 🤩

https://www.churchsupporthub.org/downloads/hamper-of-christmas-ideas-for-churches-from-church-of-englanduniversity-of-york.php

13/12/2021

⛪ Did you miss the Churches, COVID-19 and Communities event with FaithAction? Recording and report below! ⬇

The report was presented by our own Revd Professor Dee Dyas, and Becky Payne, who works as a freelance consultant undertaking projects on sustaining historic places of worship.

Panel discussion with Baroness Uddin, our own Dr Kate Giles and Daniel Singleton of FaithAction gave their reflections on the report.

https://www.faithandsociety.org/news/2021/12/event-with-the-university-of-york-churches-covid-19-and-communities/

The All-Party Group on Faith and Society hosted a report briefing with the University of York on Thursday 9th December. The report, Churches, COVID-19 and Communities is a joint publication by the University of York, Historic England, the Church of England, the Association of English Cathedrals, the

15/11/2021

🙌 We're so pleased to share our newest project 'Street Life' with you! This project to breathe new life into one of ’s historic streets has been given the go-ahead after receiving funding of almost half a million pounds from the Government’s Community Renewal Fund. We'll be working alongside other University of York departments including Music, English, and Archaeology.

Street Life aims to bring the history of Coney Street to the fore and give the iconic thoroughfare a new and vibrant post-pandemic future.

From our own Dr Kate Giles: “We hope the project will be a blueprint for other cities facing similar challenges of finding new uses for historic high streets and bringing more people back to city centres - problems made more urgent by the pandemic.”

https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2021/research/revitalise-famous-york-street/

A project to breathe new life into one of York’s historic streets has been given the go-ahead after receiving funding of almost half a million pounds from the Government’s Community Renewal Fund.

12/11/2021

📢 The Guild Chapel needs your help to reveal a secret, hidden from sight since the 19th century! Help them uncover the mystery of this medieval painting with support from The Pilgrim Trust. https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/guildchapelsecrets

'Did the Victorians preserve her, or did they destroy her?' Our own Dr Kate Giles walks you through this incredible chapel, and hints at the mystery that may be hidden behind panelling in the corner of the nave.

University of York The Guild Chapel 👇
https://vimeo.com/640438670

Can you help us to reveal one of the last great secrets in The Guild Chapel, hidden from sight since the 19th century?

05/11/2021

🎆 We missed this gem last year, but thought we'd bring it to your attention today! A great read from Explore Churches to get you ready for 🙌
https://www.explorechurches.org/inspire-me/gunpowder-treason-plot

Remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpowder treason and plot! For 400 years, bonfires have burned on November 5th to mark the failed Gunpowder Plot. Guy Fawkes and twelve other men conspired to blow up the Houses of Parliament on November 5th, 1605. The tradition of Guy Fawkes or Bonfire Nig...