Kirsty Wright
Thesis
Thesis
St Stephen's College and the Palace of Westminster, 1554-1698: Politics, Patronage and Space
Supervisor: Dr John Cooper
Research
Research
My thesis examines the conversion of the former St Stephen's College buildings in the Palace of Westminster into homes for the officers of the Exchequer of Receipt. I take an architectural approach to administrative history to locate Exchequer activity within the palace, in government and the broader political topography of early modern London. This research is funded by the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain and a departmental scholarship from the University of York.
My interest is in the built environment of early modern England and the intersections of place and political culture. More broadly I am interested in post-Reformation processes of cultural adaptation, and my previous projects examined the adaptation of sacred space in cathedrals and the parochial conversion of monastic ruins.
Papers and publications
Papers and publications
- ‘Women at Westminster: Shaping the Houses of Parliament to 1834,’ co-authored with Dr Elizabeth Biggs, European Architectural History Network Conference, University of Edinburgh. 2021.
- ‘A House in Parliament: The Auditor and Speaker’s Residence 1572-1834,’ co-authored with Murray Tremellen, Parliament Buildings Conference, The Bartlett UCL. 2021.
- ‘Houses in Parliament? Administrative Life at the Palace of Westminster,’ Cabinet of Curiosities Colloquium, University of York. 2020.
- ‘Locating the Exchequer: The Re-Use of St Stephen’s College in the Palace of Westminster, 1554-1698,’ History Department Seminar, University of York. 2020.
External Activities
External Activities
Curator and Contributor, Virtual St Stephen's Blog
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellow at the Huntington Library, 2020 to 2021(deferred due to Covid-19)
Co-organiser of Architectural History Workshop for the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain, March 2020
