Member exclusive lectures

Our Members can enjoy exclusive Lectures from leading experts on a wide range of topics connected with churches and heritage.

These lectures take place on the second Monday of the month and begin at 6pm in the evening. 

If you are a member, then keep an eye out for the members' e-newsletters every month for details of upcoming lectures and information on how to join these exclusive lectures. You can also contact the Membership team at supporters@thecct.org.uk or by calling 0800 206 1463.

If you wish to become a Member to access these lectures, you can do so from as little as £3.50 a month. More information about our membership offer, and the many benefits, can be found here.

All of our Member's Exclusive Lectures are available to watch on CCTdigital.com by logging in with your membership details.  Please email the Membership team at supporters@thecct.org.uk if you encounter any technical difficulties with accessing these lectures.

We look forward to welcoming our CCT Members live from 5:50pm to hear about these fascinating topics. Instructions on how to join us will be sent in the Members' E-newsletter.

On Monday 14 July from 17:50 we will welcome Dr Miranda Garrett, Property Curator at National Trust Tyntesfield: Tyntesfield to talk about: Like a Church in Spirit.

Join National Trust curator Miranda Garrett for an exploration of Tyntesfield, a Gothic Revival masterpiece built on wealth from the trade in Peruvian guano. Meet the Gibbs family, learn how they made their fortune, and uncover the human and environmental cost of the Victorian guano trade. Discover how the family’s faith shaped their home’s magnificent architecture and explore their remarkable chapel, designed by architect Arthur Blomfield to encourage deep worship through awe-inspiring beauty. 

Dr Miranda Garrett, Property Curator at National Trust Tyntesfield, is a curator and historian with a special interest in Victorian design and cultural history. 

On Monday 11 August from 17:50 we will welcome Dr Emily Guerry, University of Oxford to talk about: Reinventing the Crown of Thorns: Art, Power, and Display from Jerusalem to Constantinople and Paris.

This talk follows the remarkable journey of one of Christianity’s most enigmatic relics—the Crown of Thorns—tracing how its meaning was reshaped as it travelled between the world’s most sacred cities. Beginning with its elusive presence at the Church of Mount Zion in Jerusalem, and its translation to the imperial palace in Constantinople, the lecture explores the evolving symbolism of the relic as it reached Paris, where the breathtaking Sainte-Chapelle was conceived to house it. Once part of the French royal collection, the Crown of Thorns survived the Revolution and the devastating 2019 fire at Notre-Dame, where it now rests in a dazzling new reliquary. Across centuries and continents, the Crown’s power has been continually reimagined—its significance encoded in the art and architecture of the churches that once enshrined it. 

Originally from San Francisco, Dr Emily Guerry studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a Division I Volleyball scholarship before discovering her passion for medieval history. After completing her PhD at Cambridge, a fellowship in Paris, and a JRF at Merton College, Oxford, she joined the University of Kent as Senior Lecturer and Co-Director of MEMS. In 2024, she returned to Oxford as a Tutor and Lecturer in Medieval History at St Peter's College. 

On Monday 8 September from 17:50 we will welcome Daniel Richards, historic building conservator. Details of the talk to be announced soon. 

Daniel Richards is a heritage building specialist, carpenter, and traditional crafts trainer with a lifelong background in building conservation. Raised working alongside his father—a conservation officer and experimental archaeologist—Dan developed expertise in traditional restoration skills from an early age. His career has spanned work on international World Heritage Sites, including collaborations with communities in Eastern Europe on projects supported by the British Council, Embassy missions, and conservation trusts under the patronage of HRH King Charles III.

On Monday 13 October from 17:50 we will welcome Andrew Ziminski and Ruth McNeilage to talk about: The Painted Past and Present of St James’ Church, Cameley.

Join us in welcoming two leading experts, Andrew Ziminski and Ruth McNeilage, for a fascinating exploration of the remarkable wall paintings at St James’ Church, Cameley, Somerset.
This exclusive members’ lecture will begin with stonemason and author Andrew Ziminski, who will reveal how to "read" a church — visually peeling back the layers of history in even the most complex buildings, such as St James’. He will offer insight into the craftswork, evolution, and hidden stories embedded in its fabric.

We’ll then hear from wall painting conservator Ruth McNeilage, who will delve into the history, techniques, and current condition of the church’s striking wall paintings that tell a changing story of how the building was decorated and used from the late 12th century until the 18th century including the fascinating and unusual painting of a jester/fool at the east end of the north wall. She will finally discuss the challenges and approaches of the conservation programme.

Andrew Ziminski FSA is a Director of Minerva Building Conservation and the author of The Stonemason: A History of Building Britain and Church Going: A Stonemason's Guide to the Churches of the British Isles. Andrew looks after the maintenance needs of CCT’s Somerset estate. 

Ruth McNeilage is a Partner at McNeilage Conservation and a specialist in the conservation of wall paintings and decorative polychrome. She is an accredited conservator and has been conserving wall paintings in churches, cathedrals and historic buildings in the UK for forty years. She was the secretary on the ICON stone and wall painting committee for several years and worked for ICCROM, running conservation courses in Italy and Romania.

The Churches Conservation Trust is currently raising funds to safeguard the future of these precious artworks. Water ingress has caused cracked plaster and other deterioration, and urgent donations are needed for delicate, specialist conservation work. Find out more about the project and how you can support it here.

Details of November 2025 lecture to be announced soon. Expected to be hosted on Monday, 10 November from 17:50.