What's On
Our Programme of Talks
September 2026 to June 2027
Talks will be held in the
Parish Centre, Jewry Street, Winchester, SO23 8RY
at 6.30pm (unless indicated otherwise)
and others at Winchester College, starting at 7.30pm.
September 2026
PROFESSOR RYAN LAVELLE
University of Winchester
'Winchester, Wessex & England in the Early Middle Ages'
The relationship between England's early capital and the kingdoms of Wessex and England before the time of Alfred the Great to the Norman Conquest.
To be held at the Parish Centre on Wednesday 16th September 2026 at 6.30 pm
October 2026
Dr MELANIE McDONAGH
'Converts: Why did so many Extraordinary People become Catholics in the 20th Century?'
This book examines the phenomenon of the conversions to Catholicism between the 1890s and the 1960s. It focuses on 16 notable British writers, artists and intellectuals including Oscar Wilde, Evelyn Waugh, Muriel Spark and G K Chesterton.
To be held at Winchester College on Wednesday 14th October 2026 at 7.30pm
November 2026
Stuart Hervey
'Raphael in Rome'
An in-depth look at the works of Raphael Sanzio, The Prince of Painters. His prolific output left a legacy that influenced artists for centuries, until his untimely death at the young age of 37. We finish at his monumental tomb in the Pantheon.
To be held at Winchester College on Wednesday 18th November 2026 at 7.30 pm
December 2026
AGM at 5.30 pm
Professor John Mcleer University of Southampton
'The End of the East India Company'
At it's peak the East India Company was the largest corporation in the world with an army larger than Great Britain’s. It was synonymous with wealth and power. This talk includes the Indian Mutiny and concludes at the Partition of India in 1947.
To be held at The Parish Centre on Wednesday 9th December 2026 at 6.30 pm
January 2027
Charles Harris
'How the West was Spun:
The Role of 19th Century Art in Building the American Persona'
In 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase America acquired all the land from the Mississippi River to the Rockies doubling the size of the country overnight. The behaviour of the trail blazing misfits who settled it has come to define the cowboy attitude of mainstream America.
To be held at The Parish Centre on Wednesday 20th January 2027 at 6.30 pm
February 2027
Dr Heidi Dawson-Hobbis
University of Winchester
'The Winchester Cathedral Mortuary Chests: Curating the Bones of Royals & Bishops'
Discussing the Mortuary Chests Project trying to record and analyse the commingled human remains in the six mortuary chests. They were thought to contain some early medieval royals and bishops originally buried in Old Minster and then moved to the new Cathedral. We look at the process of trying to reassociate disparate bones to individual people.
To be held at The Parish Centre on Wednesday 17th February 2027 at 6.30 pm
March 2027
Dame Helen Ghosh
Master of Balliol, Oxford
'Journeys in Faith in the National Trust'
The former Director General of the National Trust will trace the centuries of history embodied in the many religious buildings in the care of the National Trust and what they can tell us about the story of faiths in this country.
To be held at Winchester College on Thursday 18th March 2027 at 7.30 pm
April 2027
Dr Jonathan Healey
Kellogg College, Oxford
'The Crisis that Led to Civil War, 1641 - 1642'
In the Winter of 1641/1642 England descends into chaos and political deadlock. Charles I marches into Parliament to arrest 5 members and sets in motion a series of events that will lead to Civil War and change the nation forever.
To be held at the Parish Centre on Wednesday 21st April 2027 at 6.30 pm
May 2027
Dr Joshua Bennett
Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
'The Papacy & the Protestant Churches'
An over view and analysis of the relationship between Popes and Protestants since the Reformation.
To be held at The Parish Centre on Wednesday 19th May 2027 at 6.30 pm
June 2027
Dr Steve Tibble
'Templars -The Knights who made Britain'
The Templars are famous for the Crusades but this talk charts the rise of the order in Britain from the rule of Henry I and how they left their mark on our history.
Dr Faith Tibble
'The Crown of Thorns'
This talk examines the ubiquitous imagery of the Crown of Thorns in Passion iconography, which commonly symbolises torture, suffering and humiliation, and all is not that it seems.
To be held at The Parish Centre on Friday 18th June 2027 at 6.30 pm