Simon John Thurley, (born 29 August 1962) is an English academic and architectural historian. He served as Chief Executive of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

from April 2002 to May 2015.

Early life and education

Thurley was born in

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

and grew up in

Godmanchester Godmanchester ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. It is separated from Huntingdon, to the north, by the valley of the River Great Ouse. Being on the Roman road network, the town has a lo ...

. He feels that it was inevitable he became a historian since "by age seven I was helping out at Roman digs near my home ... and childhood holidays invariably involved ticking off stately homes and cathedrals". He attended

Kimbolton School Kimbolton School is a British HMC co-educational independent day and boarding school in the rural village of Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire, England. There are 1000 students, aged 4 to 18. Boarding and flexi-boarding is available to a limited ...

in Cambridgeshire (1972–82), before leaving to study for a BA degree in History at Bedford College (1982–85). He passed with a 2:1, and continued his studies at the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

(1985–89). There he gained a distinction for a MA degree in

Art History Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

, and obtained a PhD degree with the thesis entitled "English Royal Palaces 1450–1550". In 2010 he was awarded an Honorary LLD degree by the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

Career

Whilst working on his doctoral research, he took up a post as Inspector of Ancient Monuments for English Heritage (1988–90), later becoming Curator of

Historic Royal Palaces Historic Royal Palaces is an independent charity that manages some of the United Kingdom's unoccupied royal palaces. These are: * Tower of London * Hampton Court Palace * Kensington Palace (State Apartments and Orangery) * The Banqueting Hous ...

(1989–97) and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

of the

Museum of London The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall, London, Gui ...

(1997 to March 2002). He is also a prolific history broadcaster, presenting a history slot on

BBC London BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London and parts of the surrounding area. Its output includes the daily ''BBC London News'' and weekly '' Sunday Politics'' on television, ...

for three years and – in television – presenting ''Flying Through Time'', Channel Four's 2004 six-part series ''Lost Buildings of Britain'' (

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

), ''The Buildings that Shaped Britain'' ( Channel 5) and a six-part history of London (

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

). He also appeared as an expert in a number of episodes of the long-running Channel 4 archaeological programme ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...

''. In 2002, at the age of 39, Thurley was appointed Chief Executive of English Heritage; his relative youth at taking this post led him to be dubbed a "boy wonder". Thurley was the highest-paid member of English Heritage's staff: his emoluments in 2009 totalled £163,000, comprising a basic salary of £136,000 and a performance-related award of £27,000, twenty per cent of basic salary.

Personal life

Thurley married secondly

Anna Keay Anna Julia Keay, (born August 1974 in the West Highlands of Scotland), is a British architectural historian, author and television personality and director of The Landmark Trust since 2012. Early life and education Keay grew up in a remote ho ...

(born 1974), a fellow historian, in February 2008. She was the Properties Presentation Director for English Heritage from 2002 to 2011, and is now Director of the

Landmark Trust The Landmark Trust is a British architectural conservation, building conservation charitable organization, charity, founded in 1965 by John Smith (Conservative politician), Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or ...

. They had known each other for about 15 years, but got to know each other better when they worked on a documentary called ''The Buildings That Shaped Britain'' for Channel 5 in 2006. They live in London and a medieval merchant's house in

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, and have two children.

Honours

He was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to conservation.

Fellowships and other memberships

Visiting Professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

of the Built Environment at

Gresham College Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, England. It does not enroll students or award degrees. It was founded in 1596 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, and hosts ove ...

* Honorary Fellow and Visiting Professor of London Medieval History at

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

* Fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...

* Fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

(F.R.Hist.S.) * Honorary Fellow of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

(FRIBA) * Senior Fellow of the

Institute of Historical Research The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) is a British educational organisation providing resources and training for historical researchers. It is part of the School of Advanced Study in the University of London and is located at Senate Hou ...

* President of the

London and Middlesex Archaeological Society The London and Middlesex Archaeological Society (LAMAS) is a society founded in 1855 for the study of the archaeology and local history of the City of London and the historic county of Middlesex. It also takes an interest in districts that were ...

(2005–2008) * President of the Huntingdonshire History Society * Chairman of

the Society for Court Studies The Society for Court Studies is a learned society that aims to stimulate and co-ordinate the study of royal, princely, and noble courts throughout history. The principal object of the Society is to examine courts from a multi-disciplinary perspect ...

* Serves on the Council of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

*Trustee for the

Canal and River Trust The Canal & River Trust (CRT), branded as in Wales, holds the guardianship of 2,000 miles of canals and rivers, together with reservoirs and a wide range of heritage buildings and structures, in England and Wales. Launched on 12 July 2012, th ...

*Founder of the

European Heritage Heads Forum The European Heritage Heads Forum (EHHF) is an informal professional and expert network that brings together the heads of the European state heritage authorities (built heritage, landscapes, archaeology, etc.) to share knowledge and ideas and prom ...

(EHHF)

Publications

*''The Royal Palaces of Tudor England: A Social and Architectural History'', Yale University Press, 1993 *''Hampton Court Palace: The Official Guidebook'', 1996 *''Whitehall Palace: An Architectural History of the Royal Apartments 1240–1698'', 1999 *''Hampton Court: A Social and Architectural History'', 2003 *''Lost Buildings of Britain'', 2004 (accompanying the Channel Four TV series) *''Whitehall Palace: The Official Illustrated History'', 2008 *''Somerset House: The Palace of England's Queens 1551–1692'', 2009 *''Excavations at Oatlands Palace 1968–73 and 1983–4'', 2010 (with Rob Poulton and Alan Cook) * *''Houses of Power: The Places that Shaped the Tudor World'', Bantam Press, 2017

Notes

External links

Simon Thurley – official website

Anna Keay – official website

English Heritage – Executive Board

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurley, Simon Directors of the Museum of London English curators English architectural historians English architecture writers Living people 1962 births Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London People from Godmanchester Academics of Royal Holloway, University of London Alumni of Bedford College, London Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art English chief executives People educated at Kimbolton School Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Professors of Gresham College Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects