Please note that submissions for the 2020 Stephen Croad Essay Prize are now closed.
The Trustees of the Ancient Monuments Society are pleased to announce that submissions are now invited for the 2020 Stephen Croad Essay Prize, which was founded last year in memory of Stephen James Croad. The closing date is 29 June 2020. Details are given below.
Stephen Croad, photo by Tony Rumsey
Stephen Croad was a dedicated public servant and in his various professional and voluntary roles, most notably as Head of the Architectural Record of the National Monuments Record, unobtrusively made a profound impact on the study of architectural history in this country. He was a very strong supporter of the Ancient Monuments Society, serving as deputy editor and book reviews editor of the Transactions for many years. He was an expert on London’s buildings, publishing two books on the River Thames and its bridges. He was a member of the Council of the London Topographical Society and after his retirement he continued voluntary activity in his native Somerset, contributing to the Somerset Vernacular Buildings Research Group and the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and of the Royal Geographical Society. He was appointed MBE in 1997.
Both Stephen’s books take the form of catalogues. Whether in the NMR, advising the wide range of regular and occasional users of the Record, or writing for his own satisfaction, he was committed to establishing and providing historically accurate and verifiable facts about buildings for the widest possible public.
AMS Trustees have agreed to the establishment of an annual Essay Prize named in Stephen’s honour, with a financial award of £500. The intention of the Essay Prize will be not only to keep alive Stephen’s memory and to celebrate his contribution but also to encourage architectural research and writing. Contributions are now invited: in the spirit of Stephen’s own research and practice, these should be on factually verifiable, documented new discoveries on the historic buildings of England and Wales, whether part of the established canon or hitherto less examined.
Contributions will be judged by a panel including John Bold (Hon. Editor, AMS), Jill Channer (Member of AMS Council), Peter Guillery (Survey of London, Bartlett School of Architecture) and Christine Stevenson (Courtauld Institute of Art).
Stephen Croad Essay Prize: Conditions
Candidate essays are required to be on factually verifiable, documented new discoveries on the historic buildings of England and Wales, whether part of the established canon or hitherto less examined.
Essays should demonstrate originality of content and high academic quality.
They should be written in good English; they should not have been previously published.
Essays should be of up to 7,500 words, including endnotes and captions for illustrations (if used) with an additional summary of no more than 200 words.
Essays should be submitted by email as a Word document, with a separate list of captions (1.5 spacing, point size 12, with a note of the total word count). Illustrations (which are optional) should be submitted in a separate file.
Submissions should include the author’s full name and contact details and be sent to: office@ancientmonumentssociety.org.uk with the subject heading Stephen Croad Essay.
Essays will be judged by the members of a panel who will be at liberty to seek advice from other experts if necessary.
The decision of the panel will be final; the panel will reserve the right to make no award.
Essays will be considered for publication in the Transactions AMS.
The deadline for submission is 29 June 2020.
Subject to the decision of the panel, the award may be made in the autumn.
There is no age limit for contributors.
