Our 2019 Scholars and Fellows kick start their conservation journey

Every year we offer the learning opportunity of a lifetime to a group of committed young people who work protect and repair old buildings. The Scholarship and Fellowship are prestigious educational programmes that can kickstart a young person’s career in conservation and run from March to December each year. The Scholarship is open to surveyors, architects and engineers and the Fellowship to building craftspeople.

Our new Fellows are Stonemason Sean Henderson, 27, carpenter and joiner Sam Matthams, 29, stonemason Luke O’Hanlon, 33, and bricklayer Matthew Wilson, 42. The aim is for the Fellows to gain experience of a diversity of crafts, further develop the skills to lead and manage historic building contracts, while deepening their understanding of the importance of gentle repair - the keystone of the SPAB approach.

Our 2019 Scholars are surveyor Daniel Shemming and architects Christian Montez, Holly Spilsbury and Bethan Watson. The aim is for the SPAB’s Scholars to gain hands-on experience of building conservation in action, and for this practical knowledge of craft techniques to inform their working lives.

Together this talented group has now begun a countrywide conservation ‘grand tour’ of site, workshop and studio visits across the UK. On their travels they will meet architects, building specialists and craftspeople working in traditional ways.

Together they have already visited projects at the Palace of Westminster and Hampton Court Palace, as well as small-scale, domestic projects in central London. The Scholars and Fellows will move further around the country over the next 9 months, mostly as two separate groups, visiting significant conservation projects to learn about traditional building techniques from skilled craftspeople with established careers in the field.

Former SPAB Fellows and Scholars are among the today’s leading UK conservation experts, caring for many of the most significant buildings in Britain – some are cathedrals, palaces, National Trust properties and English Heritage sites. The Scholarship and Fellowship are prestigious and rigorous educational awards designed to foster excellence and provide a new generation with understanding of the unique skills and crafts that look after our old buildings.

Keep up to date with the Fellows and Scholars progress on the SPAB’s blog and social media and in the SPAB Magazine.