Centre for the History of People, Place & Community

Who are we? Part of @ihr.bsky.social, we support research into #place & #history across the UK, with an emphasis on collaboration and engagement. We're home to @vchlondon.bsky.social & @layersoflondon.bsky.social. We run events & training. Follow us for news & info! www.history.ac.uk/research/cen...

New call for applications: RHS Workshop Grants, 2027, supporting day meetings of historians to plan and pursue a project bit.ly/48hkJrD The Society now invites applications for 6 Workshop Grants of £1000 each to support group activities and networking. Closing date: 15 January 2027 #Skystorians

A hugely important new policy paper on @historyandpolicy.bsky.social from our IHR colleague Elizabeth Savage and co-authors, on a #mentoring initiative for #museums / #heritage in #Ukraine. Link in the introduction to sign up, including a stream for academics. historyandpolicy.org/policy-paper...

Our Co-General Editor has been allowed out again, using the (top deck of a double decker), bus as a tool for understanding local history. #Skystorians

Be part of history! What does the #BayeuxTapestry mean to you? We're creating a new online archive of our stories around the Bayeux Tapestry and European Year of the Normans 2027. You can leave your story via the link, or share on here (including images), using #UoLTapestry. tinyurl.com/UoLTapestry

I love it when institutions step up & face the challenges. And this is @ihr.bsky.social stepping up. Sure, will be directly helping only a few people, but what a solace to know clever people are trying to come up with support in the face of the overwhelming crisis. www.history.ac.uk/fellowships-...

This is a very exciting insight into the Purbeck stone trade in the middle ages and feeds into - and allows us to mention - our new Dorset project which will focus on #Purbeck. Read more here: www.history.ac.uk/research/vic...

On 12 November we’re holding a workshop in London @ies-sas.bsky.social on the making of The Bayeux Tapestry and how ideas about its creation have changed over time, with the chance to have a go at embroidery. Places are limited, book 👇🧵🪡 #MedievalSky #Skystorians www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

Loki makes another contribution to our #BayeuxTapestry archiving project. It's going to be brimming with mischief... 😀🙌 Share your story at tinyurl.com/UoLTapestry, or post on here using #UoLTapestry (and giving your first name and postcode).

An amazing contribution to our #BayeuxTapestry archiving project! You can share your story at tinyurl.com/UoLTapestry. Or, you can post your story and pictures on here, using the hashtag #UoLTapestry, and leaving your first name and first half of your postcode (our archive will be mapped!)

Someone's going to have to rewrite quite a few of those #BattleOfHastings history books... Thank you so much to Loki (and amazing author @louiestowell.bsky.social) for this submission to our #BayeuxTapestry archiving project (and a great story sent in to tinyurl.com/UoLTapestry too). 😀🙏 #UoLTapestry

Just in: a response to our #BayeuxTapestry community archiving project from none other than LOKI, Norse God of mischief, himself! Via the utterly brilliant writer and author of the LOKI books series for kids, Louie Stowell. Share your Bayeux Tapestry story with us: tinyurl.com/UoLTapestry

Loki will tell anyone who will listen that he was actually there and saw the whole thing but actually he was hiding behind a horse and saw nothing.

My #UoLTapestry #BayeuxTapestry story for the archive: My favourite part of the Tapestry is the episode at the Mont Saint-Michel, when Harold Godwinson rescues William's men from the quicksand. This summer, I retraced their footsteps by the Couesnon River, to experience the quicksand for myself. 1/2

Are you ready? 14 October is #BattleOfHastings Day. Which team are you on? Repost or Quote post this if you're #TeamWilliam - and tell us why... And share your #BayeuxTapestry / Year of the Normans stories with us for our new online archive - use the QR code or tinyurl.com/UoLTapestry

Are you ready? 14 October is #BattleOfHastings Day. Which team are you on? Repost or Quote post this if you're #TeamHarold - and tell us why... And share your #BayeuxTapestry / Year of the Normans stories with us for our new online archive - use the QR code or tinyurl.com/UoLTapestry

This looks like a very interesting initiative (well, yes, we would say that) - teachers and local history organisations might like to check this out: www.localhistoryhub.org.uk

Are you ready? 14 October is #BattleOfHastings Day. Which team are you on? Repost or Quote post this if you're #TeamWilliam - and tell us why... And share your #BayeuxTapestry / Year of the Normans stories with us for our new online archive - use the QR code or tinyurl.com/UoLTapestry

Are you ready? 14 October is #BattleOfHastings Day. Which team are you on? Repost or Quote post this if you're #TeamHarold - and tell us why... And share your #BayeuxTapestry / Year of the Normans stories with us for our new online archive - use the QR code or tinyurl.com/UoLTapestry

Be part of history! What does the #BayeuxTapestry mean to you? We're creating a new online archive of our stories around the Bayeux Tapestry and European Year of the Normans 2027. You can leave your story via the link, or share on here (including images), using #UoLTapestry. tinyurl.com/UoLTapestry

If you’d like to know more about the impact of 1066 in England, on 12 November Mark Hagger will be giving a much more nuanced lecture. Book now 👇 #Skystorians www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

Yesterday, our @chppc.bsky.social team was busy at the @sasnews.bsky.social Festival of Research, showcasing our map-based project Layers of London (now more than 17,000 user-generated records!) and our new project in progress, PlaceLayers, which scales up to cover all of England, Scotland and Wales

#GenHour Join Poor London Week: 5-day family history experience with 11 expert talks, guided walks, research support + connect with fellow genealogists. Attend in person or online and explore workhouses, Victorian slums, foundlings & Charlie Chaplin’s London. Book: portal.sog.org.uk/Event/view/1...

I'm leading this new @ihr.bsky.social Discovery Course: 'Writing and Pitching Your #Trade Non-Fiction #Book'. Two days, with experienced writers + agent Elliot Prior (Curtis Brown), plus an optional add-on 'writing retreat' with expert advice @ihrlibrary.bsky.social www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

The famous Senate House tour from Professor Philip Murphy, Director of @historyandpolicy.bsky.social, as part of our @ihr.bsky.social #London #SummerSchool. We enjoyed learning about the #history of the building, including as the WW2 Ministry of Information, and spotting film locations!

@ihr.bsky.social check out the exhibition as part of the summer school here is a small taster

Many congratulations to Charlotte Gauthier, @faraiunvers.bsky.social winner of the @ihr.bsky.social @royalhistsoc.org and @chalkefestival.bsky.social ‘Pitch My Project’ competition for an outstanding talk at Chalke last night! @lucynoakes1.bsky.social

My colleague @evehayes123.bsky.social giving a brilliant interactive lecture on 'From Global Pandemics to Local Stories: AIDS, Covid-19 and Bloomsbury' as part of our @ihr.bsky.social #London #SummerSchool. Challenging, illuminating and moving.

Pandemics and Politics. A lovely way to spend the morning guest lecturing for our @ihr.bsky.social #SummerSchool today. Great to share the floor with @historyandpolicy.bsky.social colleague Prof Philip Murphy. A huge thank you also to @cathamclarke.bsky.social for organising. @sas-news.bsky.social

Looking back on yesterday (Day 2) at the @ihr.bsky.social #London #SummerSchool. In the afternoon, @justincolson.bsky.social led participants in exploring and interpreting the Charterhouse Water #Maps, relating them to the geography of the modern city & thinking about how they were used.

I'm really looking forward to being a judge for The Conversation Prize for writers 2026, in partnership with Faber Books and Curtis Brown. There's still time to get your entry in! Submit your 2000-word article and book idea by Sunday 5 July! theconversation.com/entries-now-...

The famous @ihr.bsky.social 'Pub Quiz' held as part of our annual #London #SummerSchool! Yes, that's colleagues @graffitiginger.bsky.social and @justincolson.bsky.social sniffing medicinal herbs to identify them - plus the winning team and star MC @beccameriel.bsky.social.

Day 1 of our fabulous @ihr.bsky.social #London #SummerSchool 2026: 'Sickness and Health'. We've enjoyed a lecture from @clairelanghamer.bsky.social, an @ihrlibrary.bsky.social introduction and workshop, and a brilliant visit to @bharchives.bsky.social and Barts North Wing. Thank you!

The incredible exhibition for the @ihr.bsky.social London Summer School 2026 (Sickness and Health) is ready! Creative direction by @beccameriel.bsky.social with additional brilliance from @graffitiginger.bsky.social. Check out the library mini exhibition too - all on the IHR lower-ground floor.

We can't wait to welcome groups from the @ihr.bsky.social Summer School next week - if ever a theme was made for our collections, it is 'Sickness and Health'! We have lots of fascinating material to share with them on Monday

Recent @ihr.bsky.social MA student and Library Services Manager @ihrlibrary.bsky.social, @katewilcox.bsky.social, has won the Phil Batman Family History Prize (Centre for Regional & Local History, University of Leicester). Discover her powerful and moving project: blog.history.ac.uk/2026/06/crea...

Still wondering about joining us @ihr.bsky.social for this year's London Summer School (22-26 June)? Bookings close on 12 June. Our 2026 theme is 'Sickness and Health', with our usual focus on #London #history. View the full schedule of lectures, trips etc: www.history.ac.uk/study-traini...

Delighted that the article based on my Historical Research Lecture (Nov 2025) is now online in the @ihr.bsky.social / @oxfordunipress.bsky.social journal Historical Research. 'Can popular #history be radical?' A real honour: thanks to my colleagues, especially journal editor @saracharles.bsky.social

What an absolute treat to host the brilliant Andrew Ziminski at @ihr.bsky.social for our annual VCH Day Lecture. A spellbinding talk full of expertise and insight - and great to hear the vital role the VCH has played in Andrew's own work on historic buildings. @vch-home.bsky.social

New public talk! "Done to death by the system": railway worker accidents as 'conventional crime' in 19th & 20th century Britain Sat 2 May, Portsmouth, 12noon Project co-lead Mike (@uophistory.bsky.social) will explore what railway staff accidents tell us about life & work in the past.

CHPPC Advisory Board member Tré Ventour-Griffiths will be giving this fascinating and important lecture on Thurs 23 April: 'Bridgerton's Forgotten Enslavers: Inside Jane Austen's Candy-Land'. And did we mention you can listen with a pint in hand? Info & booking: www.tickettailor.com/events/pints...