
Welcome to Durham Collections Fellowships
What are the Durham Collections Fellowships?
The aim of the Durham Collections Fellowships is to enable and foster research across the three historic collections of Durham — those held by Durham University, Durham Cathedral and Ushaw Historic House, Chapels and Gardens, all of which have internationally significant collections of books and other materials that deserve to be brought to a wider scholarly and public audience.
In addition to libraries this includes archives, collections of visual and material culture, and architectural assets.

Together these collections contain:
- 450 medieval manuscripts books
- over 130,000 rare and early printed books
- around 6,000 meters/shelves of archives
- 107,000 museum objects and works of art
- Over 40,000 archaeological artefacts
- 9,000 bio-science specimens

Visiting Fellowships
The purpose of the Visiting Fellowships is to support research into these globally significant collections.
By bringing together these three collections, the DCF intends to foster research on material held at Durham, to create an international fellowship of scholars whose research interests have brought them to us, and to showcase the collections to a wider audience.
Our past fellows
Since 2018 the Durham Collections Fellowships has shared its collections with a global scholarly audience through its fellowships
Kate Ashley
Barker Visiting Fellowship
Independent Scholar, United Kingdom
Maria Rybakova
Barker Visiting Fellowship
Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
Joanne Edge
Holland Visiting Fellowship
University of Manchester, England
Chris Townsend
DRRL Visiting Fellowship
University of Cambridge, England
Diana Denissen
Lendrum Priory Visiting Fellowship
Laussane University, Switzerland
Nigel Aston
DRRL Visiting Fellowship
University of Leicester, England
Maria Louisa Jacquinet
Holland Visiting Fellowship
Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa, Portugal
Tonya Moutray
DRRL Visiting Fellowship
Russell Sage College, USA
Christopher Sevara
Barker Visiting Fellowship
Newcastle University, England
Maria Severia Ruga
Barker Visiting Fellowship
University of Calabria, Italy
Thomas Reiser
Lendrum Priory Visiting Fellowship
Independent Scholar, formerly Technical University of Munich, Germany
Professor Jeremy Hutton
DRRL Visiting Fellowship
University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
Hannah Jeans
DRRL Visiting Fellowship
York University, England
Mohammed Emam
Barker Visiting Fellowship
Open University of Sudan , Sudan
Lois Burke
Holland Visiting Fellowship
Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland
Raad Khair Allah
Barker Visiting Fellowship
University of Warwick, England
Liz Goodwin
Holland Visiting Fellowship
University of York, England
Alan Wadsworth
Barker Visiting Fellowship
Independant Scholar,
James Plumtree
DRRL Visiting Fellowship
American University of Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan
John Stone
Holland Visiting Fellowship
Universitat de Barcelona, Spain
Research
Through the Durham Collections Fellowship's prestigious fellowships program, scholars have the opportunity to undertake ambitious research projects.
DCF takes pride in fostering this environment, where expert researchers are given the resources and time to delve deeply into complex topics and share their findings with the world. Whether through conferences, lectures, publications, or informal discussions in historic halls, DCF is a hub of world-class research and engagement.








Centuries of History
The Durham Collections Fellowships draw on the historic collections of three venerable Durham institutions—Durham Cathedral, Ushaw Historic House, Chapels and Gardens, and Durham University—each with a rich history spanning many centuries.
Durham Cathedral, with manuscripts dating back to the 6th century; Ushaw House and Chapels holding over 40,000 rare printed works accumulated since the 16th century; Ushaw Historic House, Chapels and Gardens holding over 40,000 rare printed works accumulated since the 16th century; Durham University’s Palace Green Library which includes Cosin's Library, founded in the 17th century as the first public lending library in the Northeast and which served as the university’s main library for 150 years before transitioning to special collections in the 1980s. Together these collections offer rich resources for research spanning many centuries.