Historical Architecture

If you are interested in architecture through history and the development of structures then this could be the topic for you! Take a look at some of our suggestions below:

Example historical architecture dissertation topic 1:

Architectural guardian of the nation? The role of the Church of England in maintaining architecture.

Using the Diocese of Durham as a case study, this dissertation evaluates the challenges of maintenance, restoration and usage that the Church of England faces as the country’s largest landowner of listed buildings that remain in constant (or semi-constant use). The decision to sell Auckland Castle (the home of the Bishops of Durham for over 800 years), and the attempt to strip the building of the Zurbaran paintings (themselves listed) has been widely condemned in the national press. At the same time, the five-yearly architectural reports produced for each parish in the Diocese suggests that the Church may be failing to maintain its listed properties fully. Moreover, the Diocese has been faced with an unprecedented level of attack on its buildings as metal thieves increasingly target its churches for copper and lead. This paper seeks to address the difficult balancing act that the Diocese faces in relation to the maintenance of its buildings, the cost of their upkeep and the need to ensure that they are ‘fit for purpose’. This is a challenging dissertation title that would require not only the in-depth study of individual churches but also issues pertaining to architectural maintenance planning and the Diocese’s chequered history in recent years with regard to listed building consent.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Feilden, B. (2004). Conservation of historic buildings. Oxford: Elsevier.
• Last, K.V. (2002). ‘The privileged position of the Church of England in the control of works to historic buildings: The provenance of the ecclesiastical exemption from listed building control’, Common Law World Review, Vol. 31(205), pp. 205-212.
• Mansfield, J. (2007). ‘Evolving heritage control and practice: The case of Anglican churches in English parishes’, Structural Survey, Vol. 25(3), pp. 265-278.