Churches Conservation Trust Annual Lecture with Suzannah Lipscomb

Talk Heritage
  • Venue

    Southwark Cathedral

  • Time

    7:00 PM

  • Price

    From £22

  • Book Tickets

Join the Churches Conservation Trust on Tuesday 24 November 2026 at Southwark Cathedral, London, for our Annual Lecture, Reformation and Ruin: The Tudor Transformation of England’s Churches.

This special evening will explore one of the most transformative and turbulent periods in England’s history, and the lasting impact it had on the country’s churches.
 
We are thrilled to welcome award-winning historian, author and broadcaster, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb as this year’s guest speaker, with the evening chaired by art historian and presenter Vikki Jenner.
 
Doors open at 7:00pm, with the lecture beginning at 7:30pm. Each ticket includes entry to the lecture and a wine reception following the event, with CCT members enjoying a special discount rate.
 
CCT is very grateful for the generous support of the Dean and Chapter of Southwark Cathedral in hosting this event. All proceeds from the evening will go directly towards caring for more than 350 historic churches across England.

 

The Lecture | Reformation and Ruin: The Tudor Transformation of England’s Churches

The English Reformation changed England’s churches forever. What began with Henry VIII’s break with Rome became a period of profound religious and cultural upheaval, transforming the places at the heart of worship and community life across England.
 
In this fascinating lecture, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb will explore how these changes played out in England’s churches – from the dissolution of the monasteries to the radical iconoclasm of Edward VI, when images, statues and other objects of Catholic worship were destroyed or removed. Suzannah will also consider the attempts to reverse these changes under Mary I and the uneasy religious settlement that followed under Elizabeth I.
 
And England’s churches still bear the scars. 
 
Surviving wall paintings, damaged sculptures, empty niches, altered interiors and other traces reveal the dramatic changes these buildings experienced, offering a tangible connection to the people and communities who lived through them.
 
Many of the churches in CCT’s care preserve this physical evidence of the Reformation. Their fabric and interiors reveal how religious change was experienced at a local level, making them not simply historic buildings, but places where this extraordinary period of England’s history can still be seen, explored and understood.
 
The story of the Reformation is, in many ways, the story written into CCT’s churches. Join Professor Suzannah Lipscomb for an illuminating exploration of one of the most transformative periods in England’s history – and discover the stories still written into the churches around us.
Guest Speakers
The Very Rev’d Dr Mark Oakley
 
The Very Rev’d Dr Mark Oakley is Dean of Southwark and will welcome guests to this year’s Annual Lecture. An author and theologian, he was formerly Dean of St John’s College, Cambridge, and Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral.
 
Mark has written several books on poetry and theology and was awarded the international Michael Ramsey Prize for theological writing, as well as the Lanfranc Award from the Archbishop of Canterbury for education and scholarship. Mark is Patron of Tell MAMA, which monitors anti-Muslim hate crime, and an Ambassador for Stop Hate UK.
 
Professor Suzannah Lipscomb
 
Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is an award-winning historian, author and broadcaster specialising in early modern history. Known for her engaging work across television, radio and podcasting, she has captivated audiences with her ability to bring the past vividly to life. She is the host of the acclaimed podcast, Not Just the Tudors.
 
Her distinguished academic career includes work at the University of Oxford and extensive research into Tudor England and the Reformation. She is also a Fellow of the Public Humanities at the School of Advanced Study, University of London, and previously served as Research Curator at Hampton Court Palace, where she developed a deep understanding of the relationship between people, power and historic spaces.
 
Her work closely reflects the mission of the Churches Conservation Trust: uncovering the human stories embedded within historic places and exploring how faith, community and heritage continue to shape our understanding of the present day.
 
Vikki Jenner
 
The lecture will be chaired by Vikki Jenner, an art historian, presenter and podcaster with a special interest in bringing history to life through storytelling.
 
Vikki works as an Interpretation Producer at the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, and is an incoming PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh, where her research focuses on nineteenth-century women’s history, architecture and patronage.
 
Since 2022, Vikki has been a key presenter for CCTdigital, CCT’s award-winning online heritage platform, where she has conducted and chaired more than 100 lectures with historians, experts, clergy, volunteers and community groups across the UK. She is also the creator and host of Nights in the Nave, CCT’s popular champing podcast exploring the unique experience of staying overnight in historic churches.
 

In Memorial

This lecture series is held in honour of the late Candida Lycett Green, a renowned author, journalist, conservation campaigner and critically acclaimed editor of her father Sir John Betjeman’s letters.
 
A lifelong advocate for conservation and historic places, Candida served as a commissioner for English Heritage and was a dedicated supporter and Vice President of the Churches Conservation Trust. Her passion for protecting England’s sacred heritage continues through this annual lecture series, which brings together leading voices in history to inspire and celebrate the nation’s historic churches.
 
Through exploring the Reformation and its enduring physical legacy, this year’s lecture reflects the spirit of Candida’s interest in historic places: looking beyond buildings as objects of preservation to understand the stories, people and changing communities that have shaped them.
 

An Evening in Support of England’s Historic Churches

The Annual Lecture is both a celebration of England’s extraordinary church heritage and an opportunity to support its future.
 
CCT cares for more than 350 historic churches across England, each one containing its own layers of history. From medieval paintings and carved stone to Tudor alterations and later adaptations, these buildings preserve evidence of the events and communities that have shaped England over centuries.
 
The legacy of the Reformation is particularly visible in many of the churches in CCT’s care. By preserving these places and helping people to understand their stories, CCT ensures that this evidence of England’s past remains accessible to future generations.