Thomas Alexander "Sandy" Heslop, (born August 1949), publishing as T. A. Heslop, is a British academic who specialises in the art and architecture of

medieval England England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the Early Modern period in 1485. When England emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire, the econ ...

. He is Professor of Visual Arts at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

(UEA). He was

Slade Professor of Fine Art The Slade Professorship of Fine Art is the oldest professorship of art and art history at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and University College, London. History The chairs were founded concurrently in 1869 by a bequest from the art collect ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

for the 1997/1998 academic year. Heslop read for a BA in the history of art 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 ...

, which he completed in 1971, and, during that time, he contributed photographs of British churches to the

Conway Library 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 c ...

whose archive, of primarily architectural images, is in the process of being digitised as part of the wider Courtauld Connects project. Having joined what was then the School of World Art Studies and Museology (now the School of Art, Media and American Studies) at UEA in 1976 under the deanship of Andrew Martindale, whose obituary Heslop penned in 1995, Professor Heslop lists his overarching interest as being "in making and its place in human culture. Humans use objects of all kinds (natural and manufactured) for practical purposes but also to structure understanding and identities"...and also in "analysing the relationship between people and things, and the role of imagination in the creation and reception of artefacts". In 2011, Sandy Heslop curated the exhibition ''Basketry: Making Human Nature'' at the

Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts The Sainsbury Centre is an art gallery and museum located on the campus of the University of East Anglia, Norwich, England. The building, which contains a collection of world art, was one of the first major public buildings to be designed by ...

. In the 1990s, Heslop was one of a number of researchers who developed the field of castle studies to address how the structures, especially great towers (also referred to as keeps), reflected their patrons' status. Heslop's study of

Orford Castle Orford Castle is a castle in Orford in the English county of Suffolk, northeast of Ipswich, with views over Orford Ness. It was built between 1165 and 1173 by Henry II of England to consolidate royal power in the region. The well-preserved ...

's architecture "place a range of architectural influences within one building and allow it to accommodate both the secular and the sacred". In 2017 Professor Heslop became principal Investigator and leader of the research programme for the project ''The Medieval Parish Churches of Norwich – City, Community and Architecture'' funded by the

Leverhulme Trust The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to suppo ...

and the Norwich Research Park Translational Fund. He is also working on a study of

St Anselm Anselm of Canterbury, OSB (; 1033/4–1109), also called ( it, Anselmo d'Aosta, link=no) after his birthplace and (french: Anselme du Bec, link=no) after his monastery, was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher and theologian of the ...

's art patronage at

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

, 1093-1109, and related imagery such as the paintings in the Chapter House of

Worcester Cathedral Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, in Worcestershire, England, situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Bles ...

. Professor Heslop was elected a 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 ...

in 1982, he is also a 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 ...

and, since 2019, has been Vice President of the

British Archaeological Association The British Archaeological Association (BAA) was founded in 1843 and aims to inspire, support and disseminate high quality research in the fields of Western archaeology, art and architecture, primarily of the mediaeval period, through lectures, co ...

, having been its President in the preceding year.

Selected works

* ''Norwich : medieval and early modern art, architecture and archaeology'', eds. T. A. Heslop and Helen E. Lunnon, Leeds : Published for the British Archaeology Association by Maney Publishing, 2015, *''Art, Faith and Place in East Anglia : from prehistory to the present'', eds. T. A. Heslop, Elizabeth Mellings and Margit Thofner, Woodbridge : Boydell, 2012, * ''Norwich Castle Keep : Romanesque architecture and social context'', Norwich : Centre of East Anglian Studies, 1994, * ''The Eadwine Psalter: Text, Image, and Monastic Culture in Twelfth-century Canterbury'', eds. T. A. Heslop, M. T. Gibson, R. W. Pfaff, London: Modern Humanities Research Association, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1992,

References

External links

*https://norwichmedievalchurches.org/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Heslop, Thomas Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art Academics of the University of East Anglia British art historians Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Academics of the University of Cambridge 1949 births Living people