Research

Dr Longcroft’s research interests include the history of schools and education. He is currently working on a two-year English Heritage-funded project recording and analysing the surviving Victorian and Edwardian primary schools of Norfolk, which involves close liaison with the county Historic Environment Record, the Norfolk Record Office and English Heritage itself. Adam’s research also extends to pedagogy and assessment in higher education. Adam won a prize for public and community engagement from CUE East in 2010, for his work as a columnist, and his work in communicating his research in innovative ways to the wider public. Adam continues his work with the Norfolk Historic Buildings Group (as its Chair) and continues to edit the Group’s journal which has repeatedly won national awards and recognition.

Publications

2009

· ‘Change and Continuity in Vernacular Houses: A Case Study from Norfolk’ Norfolk Archaeology, (2008) approx. 14 pages (forthcoming). Peer Reviewed

This is the first large-scale analysis of probate inventory evidence for rural housing in Norfolk 1578-1730.

· ‘Local History and Vernacular Architecture Studies’, The Local Historian (Journal of the British Association for Local History), (May 2009). Peer-reviewed. (forthcoming)

· Editor of Volume 4 of NHBG Journal:Tacolnmeston: A Study of Historic Buildings in the Claylands of South Norfolk. Includes a sole-authored 30,000 word Introduction to the landscape and buildings of the region and the village of Tacolneston. (Forthcoming, April 2009)

2008

· Edited reviews section of the VAG journal Vernacular Architecture (5,000 word text)

2007

· Edited reviews section of the VAG journal Vernacular Architecture (10,000 word text)

· Feature titled ‘New Insights into the Medieval New Town’ focusing on results of the New Buckenham Project, in Current Archaeology magazine, April 2007 (forthcoming).

· ‘Medieval Clay-Walled Houses: A Case Study from Norfolk’, Vernacular Architecture, Vol 37 (2006) pp.61-74. Peer Reviewed

· ‘The Importance of Place: Placing Vernacular Buildings into a Landscape Context’, in P.S. Barnwell and M. Palmer (eds), Post-Medieval Landscapes (Windgather Press, 2007) pp.23-38. Peer Reviewed

· Editor of Volume 3 of NHBG Journal: Recent Research Into Vernacular Buildings and Parish Churches: Case Studies from Norfolk. Includes a sole-authored essay on ‘The Historic Buildings of Binham’.

· Appointed to role as columnist for Eastern Daily Press – a fortnightly column titled ‘The History Man’ (as of Sept 2008, 20 columns have been published).

2006

· Edited reviews section of the VAG journal Vernacular Architecture (15,000 word text)

· Feature: ‘Dating in a Small Town’ focusing on the results of the NHBG New Buckenham Project, in British Archaeology magazine, No.86 January/February 2006 pp.40-43.

· ‘The Hearth Tax and Historic Housing Stocks: A Case Study from Norfolk’ – essay in proceedings of the Oct 2004 Hearth Tax conference at the University of Oxford. Houses and the Hearth Tax: The Later Stuart House and Society Council for British Archaeology Research Report 150. (Council for British Archaeology, 2006) pp.62-73. Peer Reviewed

2005

· Edited reviews section of the VAG journal Vernacular Architecture (15,000 word text)

· Elected to Editorial Board of the international journal Vernacular Architecture.

· Editor of Volume 2 of NHBG Journal: The Historic Buildings of New Buckenham. This included an 80-page, 30,000-word analytical sole-authored introduction.

· Maps and 500-word text to ‘Seventeenth-Century Housing: The Hearth Tax’, in Ashwin & Davies (eds), An Historical Atlas of Norfolk (Phillimore, 2005) pp.109-110.

2004

· Edited reviews section of the VAG journal Vernacular Architecture (15,000 word text)

· Publication of Presidential Address: ‘Archaeology and the Vernacular Threshold’ in NAHRG Annual, (2004) pp.1-12.

2003

· Co-editor of first volume of the Journal of the Norfolk Historic Buildings Group, Norfolk Historic Buildings: A Research Agenda for the Future (Norwich, 2003). Contributed an article titled: ‘Vernacular Architecture in Norfolk: Past Research, Future Objectives’ (pp.9-20)

2002

· ‘The Development of Plan-forms in Smaller Vernacular Houses: A Case Study from Norfolk’, Vernacular Architecture, Vol 32, (2002) Peer-reviewed

· ‘Reassessing Historic Housing Stocks from Hearth Tax Evidence: A Case Study from Norfolk’ Norfolk Archaeology, Vol 44 Part 1 (2002)  Peer-reviewed

2000

· ‘Vernacular Architecture in Norfolk: A Research Agenda for the New Millennium’ in NAHRG Annual, (2000) pp.61-70.

1997

· Co-editor of Conference Brochure (a large body of research data) for the 1997 VAG Conference. Included a paper on ‘Norfolk Hearth Tax Assessments’.

1996

· ‘The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning? Some observations on the impact of accreditation in extra-mural provision’ in Association of Local History Tutors,  Bulletin 36, (January, 1996).

1995

· ‘Fire damage in a rural community: the case of Cley-next-the-Sea’ in Vernacular Architecture, 26 (1995) 18-25. Peer Reviewed

· Editorial input into Newsletter of NHBG

Conference Papers (2002 Onwards)

June 2010 – Imperial War Museum. Keynote speaker at Annual Conference of the British Association of Local Historians (BALH). Invited to give a 40 minute paper on “Recent Research into Medieval Towns – A view from the Flatlands of East Anglia”.

February 2010 – British Museum. Current Archaeology National Awards. Gave 20 minute presentation on The Tacolneston Project, which had been ‘short-listed’ for the Robert Kiln Trust Award for Best Volunteer-led Archaeology Project.

September 2009 – University of Oxford. Joint VAG and OUDCE Conference on Market Buildings. Gave 40 minute paper on “Markets and market buildings in East Anglia”.

December 2008 – University of Leicester. VAG Winter Conference. Delivered a 45 minute paper on “‘Life on the Edge’: The Evidence for Impermanent Buildings and Building Methods in Medieval Norfolk”.

June 2008 – University of Cumbria. Delivered a 30 minute presentation titled ‘Successful Assessment Strategies in a HE Lifelong Learning Context’.

March 2007 - University of Leicester. Presentation on New Insights into the Medieval New Town: The NHBG New Buckenham Project to the University of Leicester Post-Graduate Seminar Series. Invited to contribute by Professor Chris Dyer, Professor of English Local History, University of Leicester.

December 2005 - Royal Holloway, University of London. Winter Conference of the Vernacular Architecture Group (Theme: ‘Buildings, Rebuildings & Vernacular Thresholds’). Delivered a 40-minute paper on The Great Rebuilding in Norfolk: Myth or Reality?

July 2005 - University of Leicester. Prestigious National Conference. (Theme: ‘W.G. Hoskins and the Making of the English Landscape – 50 Years On’). Delivered 40-minute paper on The Importance of Place: Placing Vernacular Buildings into a Landscape Context.

October 2004 - University of Oxford. Vernacular Architecture Group.  Delivered a 45-minute paper on Re-assessing the Norfolk Hearth Tax Returns.

December 2002 - University of London. Vernacular Architecture Group. Delivered a 45-minute paper on Research activities of the Norfolk Historic Buildings Group.

Subheading: Research-related Prizes & Awards

2010     NHBG Tacolneston Project is shortlisted for the Robert Kiln Trust Award for Best Volunteer-led Archaeology Project at Current Archaeology National Awards.

Awarded UEA CUE East Award for Public and Community Engagement.

2008     Awarded UEA Teaching Fellowship

2007     Winner of National Teaching Fellowship

2006     The New Buckenham Project won the Pitt-Rivers Award for ‘Best Volunteer-led Archaeology Project’ at the National Archaeological Awards. Christopher Dyer, Professor of History at the University of Leicester, has recently highlighted the project as an example of best-practice and has described the book as “pointing the way forwards in vernacular architecture studies”.

Awarded ‘national runner-up’ prize for a presentation on the New Buckenham Project at the Presentation of Heritage Research Awards hosted by the BA Festival of Science. The purpose of the Awards event (sponsored by English Heritage) was to highlight best practice in the communication of specialized, scientific research to a non-specialist audience.

2005     Sole winner, Higher Education Academy national award for ‘Excellence in Teaching History in Universities’.

Awarded UEA Teaching Fellowship.

1990     Awarded PhD research studentship by Centre for East Anglian Studies