2026 Season  Speakers List

Wednesday 14 January 2026 at 7.00 P.M  

Dr Liz Green. is the Senior National Curator, Architectural History, at the National Trust. Architectural History in the National Trust :The National Trust is one of the power houses for research in architectural history—on buildings, furnishings, landscapes and the way buildings were used—and Liz has a unique overview in that her responsibilities extend over both Wales and England.

Wednesday 11 February 2026 at 7 pm

Eleanor Carpenter - A brief overview of DOWH's research in Flintshire

Eleanor is a DOWH trustee and has amassed huge and varied experience, having served as a conservation

officer in three Welsh authorities (Flintshire, Eryri National Park and, currently, Ceredigion), and in the private

sector.The Flintshire Branch has done some interesting research, including a very unassuming house in the middle

of Caerwys which was found to have a cruck frame and an early date. The talk will be an opportunity to see

what the research found and how this links into the wider picture of historic houses in North Wales.

Wednesday 11 March 2026 at 7 pm

Fiona Gale, -‘The Romans in North-east Wales’

Fiona, one of our trustees will be known to you all, was formerly the County Archaeologist for Denbighshire and is, among many things, a trustee of Heneb, the Trust for Welsh Archaeology. Fiona will take us into what is new territory for DOWH and look at the early years of occupation through the Roman period. Her talk will look at new evidence which is coming to light from unexpected places including the fantastic timber framed building, Nantclwyd y Dre in Ruthin.

Wednesday 15 April 2026 at 7 pm

Dr Nigel Baker,- ‘On the outside looking in: multiple perspectives on medieval urban buildings with special reference to Shrewsbury’Dr Baker is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham and a very entertaining speaker. He is a field archaeologist specialising in the study of historic towns, with a long-standing research interest in the development of historic towns, particularly in Shropshire and the Marches. Shrewsbury, like Chester and Oswestry, was a key market for Welsh goods and had a substantial Welsh population. Like Chester, it has a rich heritage of medieval and Tudor houses, but they are very different in character: why should that be? However well you know the town, you may be surprised by what you learn this evening.

Wednesday 13 May 2026 at 7 pm.

Miles Wynn Cato - William Parry (1743-1791) and his portraits for Welsh Houses

Miles is an independent art dealer of long standing and a national expert on pre-20th century Welsh painting.

He is the author of several books including a major study of William Parry, the most significant Welsh portrait

painter of the 18th century. William Parry occupies a unique position in Welsh art history. He is the only pre-19th century Welsh painter who enjoyed widespread & lasting patronage in his own country. This talk will look at the Welsh families who

patronised him from the late 1760s until his death and the country houses where the portraits he painted were

hung. It is a story of paintings lost and found as well as the vicissitudes of the gentry houses of North Wales.