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 Durham Collections Fellowships intend 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

2024/25

Luciane Scarato

DRRL Visiting Fellowship

Independent Scholar, Brazil

2018/19

Liz Goodwin

Holland Visiting Fellowship

University of York, England

2018/19

Dr Peter Lindfield

Holland Visiting Fellowship

Manchester Metropolitan University, England

2021/22

Simon Sandall

DRRL Visiting Fellowship

University of Winchester, England

2018/19

Dr Toth Zsombor

DRRL Visiting Fellowship

Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary

2023/24

Ellen Smith

Holland Visiting Fellowship

University of Leicester, United Kingdom

2021/22

Carmen Mangion

Barker Visiting Fellowship

University of London, England

2023/24

Maria Rybakova

Barker Visiting Fellowship

Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan

2023/24

Professor Deirdre Raftery

Barker Visiting Fellowship

University College Dublin, Ireland

2022/23

Svorad Zavarsky

Holland Visiting Fellowship

Institute of History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia

2023/24

Agnes Desmazieres

Barker Visiting Fellowship

Centre Sèvres-Facultés jésuites de Paris, French

2021/22

Carmen Mangion

Barker Visiting Fellowship

University of London, England

2021/22

Rev Dr Robert Fennell

Barker Visiting Fellowship

Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

2018/19

Dr Dawn La Valle Norman

DRRL Visiting Fellowship

Australian Catholic University, Australia

2023/24

Anna Graham

Barker Visiting Fellowship

Queens University Belfast, Ireland

2025/26

Georgina Olivetto

Lendrum Priory Visiting Fellowship

University of Salamanca, Italian

2018/19

Elizabeth Evenden-Kenyon

DRRL Visiting Fellowship

University of Oxford, England

2021/22

Filomena Giannotti

Barker Visiting Fellowship

University of Sienna, Italy

2022/23

Patrick Duffy

Holland Visiting Fellowship

Trinity College, Dublin, Irish

2019/20

Nigel Aston

DRRL Visiting Fellowship

University of Leicester, England

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.