Identity, Community and Victorian Medievalism

Dr Corinna Wagner and Dr Joanna Parker have been awarded an AHRC Research Grant for the project 'Identity, community and Victorian medievalism in the South West', which explores how communities turned to their regional histories and local landscapes in response to economic, technological and social change. The project looks at how Victorian artists, architects and writers borrowed from the literary artefacts and visual imagery of their region's medieval past in order to forge an aesthetic that they thought capable of inspiring 'sensus communis'—that is, a shared sensibility about what it means for a community to flourish. The project will culminate in a co-curated exhibition on Victorian Medievalism at Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum, bringing key pieces from major galleries across Britain and the South West.