Description

In 2021, I identified in Lowther’s North Park a site of international significance: a ringwork castle and attached village potentially associated with the Norman conquest of the Kingdom of Cumbria in 1092. This is rare evidence of the colonisation of Europe’s peripheries that enabled Latin Christendom to double in size between 900 and 1200, and a window onto a critical period in Cumbria’s past when it was annexed to the English state. My project recovers all available evidence to reconstruct the site’s biography c.900-1300: LiDAR, geophysical surveys, archaeological excavation, and analysis of landscape, stone sculpture, placenames, maps, and charters. Since 2022, I have generated £24,000 of external income to lead an archaeological and historical investigation (administered by LCGT: Castle Studies Trust, Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, Lowther Castle and Gardens Trust). I assembled a team of archaeologists (UCLan and Allen Archaeology) for on-site excavations in 2023 and 2024, commissioned and supervised a postdoctoral research project on Lowther’s early medieval sculpture, and undertook research in Lowther’s (largely uncatalogued) medieval archive.

Leveraging my media profile and experience, I built a portfolio to engage the national public and enhance the University’s reputation. The project was showcased on Digging for Britain, the BBC’s flagship archaeology series (2.1 million viewers), in January 2024, with an accompanying feature in the Radio Times (circulation 422,819). I consulted for the programme, providing the historical context and location advice. Furthermore, I curated a segment for the episode showcasing Lowther’s medieval charters, including the first recorded reference to the Norman castle, which I had discovered in the archive. I appeared on the episode discussing the documents and the Norman conquest of Cumbria. I produced a complementary 2,000-word article for BBC History Magazine (April 2024), the nation’s leading History publication (reach 71, 871), which was also broadcast as a BBC History Extra podcast (1,397,124 listeners). In addition to an article on BBC News Online (2023), across 2023-24 I was interviewed extensively for regional press, including BBC Lancashire (seven appearances, each reaching 74,000) and BBC Cumbria (nineteen appearances, each reaching 41,000) and various regional newspapers.