The third Edward Roberts Memorial Lecture will be given by Nick Hill, a buildings archaeologist and architectural historian with a particular interest in English houses of the medieval and early modern period.  He is a longstanding member of the Vernacular Architecture Group, serving as its treasurer from 2008.  Before his recent retirement he was a chartered building surveyor and worked for over thirty years at Historic England, delivering major building conservation projects.  He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 2009 and awarded an MBE for services to heritage in 2024.

Nick is an occasional lecturer on the MSt course in Building History at Cambridge University and in recent years the main focus of his research has been Early English houses of c 1150-1250, with studies of many major aisled halls and chamber blocks.  Houses with standing fabric of this date are rare, but Hampshire is quite rich in surviving examples.  The lecture will cover Nick’s recent research and his studies of Warnford Manor, Christchurch Castle Hall, King John’s House at Romsey and Bishop’s Waltham Palace.