WEEK 3, 09/10/17

Our lecture was an outside walking tour of Roehampton campus wherein we visited the Whitelands chapel, the Digby Sacred Heart chapel, and the Southlands Methodist chapel. Their respective religious representatives talked about the historical roots of their religion in education – particularly female – and how they came to form Roehampton University today. The Whitelands representative was unavailable so we had to investigate what we could without context.

They presented using the Roehampton Archives as sources, acting as an examplar for me in my research. By signposting where to gain access to the Archives on campus, they gave me the ability to find this information and encouraged further research into the history of our campus. When given a handout by the Digby chaplain, I learnt to identify architectural iconography within the Digby chapel and others. This would be a valuable skill set for further research into religious buildings. I am confident that now informed by the two other speakers and handouts, I could understand more of the Whitelands chapel than on our first visit.

From this, I could begin research into the religious influence in standardising and improving British female education: ‘How far did Digby Sacred Heart chapel aid improving female education?’