Applications for the S.P.A.B. Scholarship & Fellowship are now open - these programmes offer a truly unique & transformative educational experience

I wrote this short piece several years ago attempting to capture the truly transformative influence that my SPAB Scholarship had on me some 20 years ago

It was Vitruvius, famous for his first century treatise ‘Ten Books of Architecture’, who asserted that: “‘Builders in Chief’ (or today our lead professionals) who have manual skills and dexterity without scholarship are not able to reach the professional heights which their profession would warrant while those with scholarship and no practical skill hunt the shadow not the substance. Those who have a thorough knowledge of both practice and theory are in a position to obtain and wield authority.” Knowledge can therefore be viewed as the child of practice and theory. It is clear that the SPAB Lethaby Scholarship meaningfully attempts to reconnect traditional craft and professional practice. The experiential nature (or learning through doing) of the 9 month programme is quite unique and this type of education is well known to underpin meaningful, ‘deep’ learning.

I was awarded the SPAB Scholarship in 2001 and reflecting upon my personal experience it is clear that it has been transformative.?The Scholarship most certainly led to a greater respect for craft and those individuals undertaking highly skilled work, and it created a greater understanding of traditional construction, processes and materials. It became apparent to me that no conservation profession could ever implicitly understand every aspect, of each individual craft. After all it takes years to become an artisan. A major thing I realised was that I would need to listen, and attempt to effectively communicate with highly expert craftspeople to attain effective and sensitive fabric repair. It is important to recognise, and admit, that we don’t know everything. This seems to resonate with William Morris’s ethos of true appreciation and respect of craft and cooperation between individuals. Reflecting this, the William Morris Craft Fellowship was created and along with the Lethaby Scholarship, awarding bursaries for 2-4 for each specialising in the conservative repair of Historic Buildings.

Discussions around philosophy are integral to the programme and one important facet of the Scholarship was the realisation that building conservation philosophy is not a set of esoteric concepts. Philosophy really affects every practical repair we undertake. Philosophy helps us better understand the ramifications of selected approaches and enables us to defend our fabric interventions. Philosophy should not be dogmatically applied and recognition should be made that there is not necessarily a right or wrong answer, only higher levels of defense for the selected repairs. Philosophy can positively guide design and specification for both macro and micro scale interventions giving a comprehensible narrative to often complex projects.?Such has been the impact of the formative discussions on building conservation philosophy during my SPAB scholarship that it inspired my to write successive waves of journal articles and magazine pieces on the topic - clearly the importance of the subject became 'hard-wired' in me.

The breath of the Scholarship was quite staggering, both geographically and technically. I travelled from Cornwall to Orkney, and worked on cob construction, to thatching. (actually almost all the materials groups and associated repair techniques). Beyond the educational aspects of the programme, an understated feature of the SPAB is actually how welcoming and encouraging it is to those who get involved. People are met from an extremely diverse range of backgrounds, but commonality is found in a passion for historic buildings.

About the SPAB and the SPAB Scholarship

The SPAB was founded in 1877 by William Morris and was borne out of a reaction against wide scale ‘restoration’ and unnecessary and overzealous fabric interventions of the 19th Century. The Society established core conservation values that led to the development of the SPAB manifesto. This still forms the basis of the aims of the society today. Indeed, to my mind, the SPAB manifesto can be considered as being the ‘cornerstone’ of modern building conservation philosophy and has significantly influenced practice frameworks such as the Athens, Venice, and more recently, Burra and Appleton international charters. Morris has also been credited with the development of the concept of ‘custodianship’, stating ‘can we protect our ancient buildings, and hand them down instructive and venerable to those that come after us." Or in plainer English ‘we are only the trustees for those who come after us’.

Morris was himself heavily influenced by John Ruskin and his published works, especially the ‘7 lamps of Architecture’. Ruskin & Morris were concerned by the falsification of history with measures taken in prominent Victorian repair projects to ‘restore’ historic buildings to idealised state that may have never existed. Morris believed that ancient buildings should be repaired, not restored, so that their entire history could be legible.

Maintenance, sensitive repair of fabric and support for craft skills is key to SPAB. SPAB established a training programme in the 1930’s with the principle aim of educating architects, and latterly building surveyors and engineers to attain an in-depth understanding of building conservation. Quoting form the SPAB application literature 'Each year the Scholars travel the length of the country together, making site visits and meeting expert craftspeople and lead professionals working in building conservation. SPAB Scholars are now among the leading conservation experts in the UK, looking after some of the foremost buildings in Britain. Some are cathedral architects, others look after palaces, and scheduled monuments'.

Applying for the Scholarship and the programme

Applications are encouraged from Building Surveyors, Architects and Engineers who have completed an accredited honours degree and ideally have a few years in practice. Again quoting from SPAB 'Enthusiasm and good social skills are necessary as the first six months are spent living and working in close proximity with the other Scholars and Fellows?and meeting new hosts on-site each day. Potential Scholars must be practically minded, able to work as part of a team and be willing to spend long periods of time away from home. Three or four Scholarships are awarded each year depending on funding. There are no fees for the programme and a bursary is paid to cover basic living expenses. Unlike other study programmes, and keeping true to the experiential nature of study, there are no formal lectures or essay submissions'.

The first six months of the Scholarship follows a programme arranged by the SPAB. The final three months give the Scholars the opportunity to develop their personal interests in the crafts and allied arts associated with the UK’s great country houses. Scholars observe and experience traditional techniques and sympathetic repair in situ and will visit structures of every age, size and style. SPAB favour a hands-on approach and timber framing, masonry, lime pointing and blacksmithing are just some of the crafts the Scholars may try. Through these experiences SPAB hope that each Scholar will develop their own appreciation of our philosophy of conservative repair. The SPAB Scholarship is therefore clearly inherently practical with connectivity between craft and professional practice being drawn together. An appreciation of traditional materials, techniques, repair and maintenance is integral to driving learning.??

I cannot overemphasize what a great opportunity it is, and i do hope that you apply. Please click on the link to start the process. Best of luck with your application!