Talks & Tours

I give illustrated talks on church heritage to many different audiences and I’m an accredited Lecturer on the Directory of Lecturers of the Arts Society (formerly NADFAS).

I have given five live talks at the V&A, here exploring the remarkable 15 or so medieval cloisters still serving English cathedral churches despite Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries. - https://www.vam.ac.uk/event/b8kME2xG/cloisters-remarkable-cathedral-survivors

I have been invited to give the 2025 the annual Maurice and Shelagh Bond Memorial Lecture at St Georges chapel to Windsor to mark the 550th anniversary of King Edward the 4th and bishops Beauchamp’s great project to rebuild Saint Georges chapel, becoming the great late perpendicular we know today.  This is a lecture open to the public to be given on the Wednesday 15th October 2025 within St Georges chapel windows.

I can be commissioned to deliver bespoke talks and tours on subjects relating to church buildings and their history, sustainability, future use and funding.

For more info contact me: janet@janet-gough.com

My most popular talks are:

Cathedral Treasures of England and Wales

Cathedrals are monumental constructions, representing the greatest effort of Christian dedication in our landscape. They also house the most important objects associated with Christianity. In Janet Gough’s lecture accompanying her paperback, 50 of these astonishing artefacts on display in the cathedrals of England and Wales and selected by the cathedral deans are brought to life. Ranging from sundials and astronomical clocks to stained glass, and pilgrims’ boots to Early English books and the first Welsh Bible, the National Churches Trust describes the treasurescovered as ‘simply mesmerising’.

Christopher Wren rebuilds London out of disaster

Setting off from the Monument to the Great Fire of London designed by Sir Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke, the talk examines Wren’s buildings to tell the story of the incredible rebuilding of London after the badly-handled Plague and disastrous Great Fire of 1666. We see how Wren drew on royal patronage, up-to-the-minute science, on an understanding of classical, other early and contemporary building styles and his deep insight into beauty and craftsmanship. Wren worked with a team of eminent collaborators to rebuild 51 new churches, crowned by the extraordinary domed Baroque St Paul’s Cathedral to quickly, efficiently and permanently redraw the skyline of London as well as developing a new built liturgy for the Church of England.

Cloisters: remarkable cathedral survivors

Medieval cloisters, originally spaces linking monastic buildings, are miraculous survivors of Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries. English cathedral communities recognised the practicality of cloisters and experimented with cutting edge architecture to build, improve and embellish them. The result is that England’s cathedral cloisters are some of the most extraordinarily beautiful spaces in the world. This talk explores the 15 or so cathedral medieval cloisters in England with spectacular photos and encourages audiences to venture beyond the nave when they next visit a cathedral.

Discover my lecture schedule