Conferences
The Group's conferences are where members meet to study buildings and discuss their findings. Conferences are normally open to members only, although guests may be accepted if space is available - please see the Membership page for details of how to join the group.
Lists of past VAG conferences can be found on the Previous Conferences page.
Spring Conferences
In the spring members and guests meet in a different part of the country each year to visit a selection of buildings in the local vernacular tradition. Local experts are on hand to explain the background and more experienced members help others to interpret them. In the evenings, lectures and discussions allow the day's findings to be explored further. Bursaries are usually offered each year to enable a registered student or a professional in the early years of his or her career to attend the spring conference. The next spring conference will be based in Stirling on 9-13 June 2026. Conference enquiries: please email spring-conference@vag.org.uk
Winter Conferences
The winter conference takes a theme of current interest and explores it in depth through papers given by experts in the field. Bursaries are normally available for students or early career professionals to enable their attendance at the conference. Conference enquiries: please email winter-conference@vag.org.uk.
Winter Conference 2026
The next winter conference will be held on 10 and 11 January 2026 at the University of Nottingham, on the theme Vernacular buildings in urban contexts: the study of urban building types and integration with urban studies. Over the past 25 years a number of notable studies have demonstrated the huge potential of studying vernacular buildings in urban areas - studies both of specific towns and cities and of urban building types more generally. Many of these have illustrated the value of multi-disciplinary approaches to the subject of urban buildings, but it is also clear that there is more to do in making vernacular buildings a key part of wider urban historical studies. This conference aims to bring together those studying vernacular urban buildings and those from different disciplinary backgrounds, to consider vernacular urban building types and their contribution to urban studies more generally.
The programme of talks is:
Saturday 10 January
- Ross Cook (Building Archaeologist and Dendrochronologist), ArchaeoDomus) - From Fragments to Floorplans: Investigating Ruthin's Historic Buildings
- Vicky Hubbard and Paul Clark (Chipping Norton Building Record) - Early Fabric in Historic Towns: Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire
- Nick Joyce (Conservation Architect, Nick Joyce Architects) - The Harlequin, Lincoln
- Chris King (University of Nottingham) - "Places of receit and refuge, yea and for habitation": Nottingham's vernacular cave architecture
- Dr Adrian Green (Associate Professor, Durham University) - Town houses in post-Reformation Durham - why did the country gentry have houses in town?
- John Mabbit and Jeremy Lake (Heritage Consultants and members of the Buildings Archaeology Group, Chartered Institute for Archaeologists) - Reimagining urban architecture: the examples of Nantwich and Newcastle
Sunday 11 January
- Nigel Baker (Archaeologist, Nigel Baker Archaeology) - On the outside looking in: multiple perspectives on medieval urban buildings
- Simon Townley (County Editor, VCH Oxfordshire) - Small Towns and Urban Buildings in the Victoria County History of Oxfordshire
- Sarah Rees-Jones (Professor Emeritus of Medieval History, University of York and Trustee, UK Historic Towns Trust) and Giles Darkes (Cartographer, UK Historic Towns Trust) - The UK Historic Towns Trust: celebrating 50 years of creating historical maps of British towns
- Amy Burnett (Remote Lecture) (Policy Adviser, Historic England; Independent Researcher) - Women's work in 17th century inns and alehouses
- Matt Cooper (Senior Listing Adviser, Historic England; PhD student, University of Cambridge) - Medieval Inns since W.A. Pantins
- John Schofield (Independent Researcher) - Buildings in the City of London after the fire of 1666
- Nat Alcock (Independent Researcher) - Sixteenth century fires in Stratford-upon-Avon
The conference is open only to VAG members and guests - if you'd like to become a member, please see our Membership page. Full details of the conference have been circulated to members and are also available on the Members' Area.
Bursaries are available - please see the bursary information.
Training Conferences
The Vernacular Architecture Group offers occasional short weekend conferences aimed at those who are new to looking at vernacular buildings and/or would like the opportunity to learn more. The format is based on visits to buildings rather than papers. There is an emphasis on introducing people to examining buildings, covering basic vocabulary, some of the typical forms of vernacular buildings and how we go about investigating them. The latest training and study conference took place at Sutton Courtenay Abbey in Oxfordshire on 4-5 October 2025. Conference enquiries: please email training-conference@vag.org.uk.
Members' Meetings
Since 2021, we have held an online members' meeting annually in October. This takes the format of 10-20 minute papers being given over Zoom, on any topic related to vernacular buildings of members' choosing, perhaps highlighting a specific building, raising a problem or question, or exploring a theme. This year's Members' Meeting will take place on Saturday 25 October 2025 and the talks will be:
- Julian Munby - Buildings archaeology
- Suzanne Keene - Oriel Cottage, Salisbury - the story so far
- Andrea Kirkham - Work, study and the use of Green in 17th-century domestic wall paintings
- Richard Bebb - The Ladies of Llangollen's Treasury of Carvings
- John McGuinness - Developments in English brickwork in the 19th and 20th centuries
- Greg Huber - The hidden world of letter reversals
Booking details were circulated by email to members on 15 October 2025 - if you haven't received the message please email webmaster@vag.org.uk.
Other Conferences and Visits
Other VAG visits include trips to Maine in France in 2016, Denmark in 2014, Norway in 2011 and North America in 2004.
