We were delighted to welcome over 150 people to the Barber Institute of Fine Arts on Thursday 13 November for the Annual Ironbridge Lecture. The lecture was delivered by Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage, who discussed the monetary value of heritage and argued that present arguments for the value of the nation's heritage are bankrupt and that a new narrative is needed if we are to ensure our past is retained for the benefit of future generations.
Simon Thurley is an historian, museum director and heritage crusader and has been chief executive of English Heritage since 2003. Before that he was director of the Museum of London and was, for eight years Curator of the Historic Royal Palaces. His many books include Men From the Ministry, a history of state heritage protection in Britain, and The Building of England, a history of English architecture published in 2013. Simon is also Visiting Professor of the Built Environment at Gresham College and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research.