The Ian Coulson Postgraduate Scholarship and Medieval Canterbury Weekend
As you will see from Mike Clinch’s 'Welcome' on page 2, Ian Coulson very sadly died in December. In addition to working tirelessly for the Society, Ian made a major contribution to the Folkestone 'The Town Unearthed' project. As a community-based project it offered local people a wide variety of opportunities to become involved in discovering the history and archaeology of their town, and it was this concept of working together to understand the past that had been particularly important to Ian. Among the organisations involved in the project was Canterbury Archaeological Trust and Canterbury Christ Church University, and it is the latter that is significant in the context of the Medieval Weekend.
From the beginning, the organising committee of the Medieval Weekend had not seen it as a commercial venture. Yes, it needed to pay for itself, but the concept had been that it should find ways to aid heritage and education. Consequently, it was agreed that the Weekend would come under the Centre for Research in Kent History and Archaeology at Canterbury Christ Church University and that, after expenses, kept as low as was feasibly possible and with sponsorship sought internally and externally, the resulting 'profits' should be divided in half. One half was to go to the iconic medieval buildings featuring in the guided tours and the other half towards the establishing of a postgraduate scholarship for budding historians and archaeologists who wished to research aspects of Kent’s past for a higher degree.
Ian’s untimely death and his close association with History and Archaeology at Christ Church means that it is wholly appropriate that this new scholarship will be the Ian Coulson Postgraduate Scholarship, and hopefully news of the first recipient may even be available in time for the next KAS newsletter. This is an important legacy because the prohibitively high costs of undertaking such higher degrees means that many very able students are unable to pursue this path. Moreover, by specifying that candidates must be researching Kent’s past this scholarship will complement the Society’s Hasted and Thirsk Prizes. So in supporting the Medieval Canterbury Weekend, KAS members will also be helping future historians and archaeologists of Kent.
Sheila Sweetinburgh