Grants
Grants for research
The Society administers a number of different research funds, some of which are dedicated to specific areas of interest. Individuals may apply for more than one award. However, only one application will be accepted for each award.
The closing date for all research funds is the Friday of the first full week in January in the year of application.
Applications for all awards are assessed by the Research Committee. The Committee meets in early March to consider the applications, and applicants are notified of the results by the end of March.
The Society provides funds for the support of archaeological and antiquarian research within its fields of interest. Some of the funds are limited by date and period but the Society is also able to consider applications over a wider geographical and chronological range. In recent years the total allocated has been approximately £30,000, in amounts varying from £500 to £5,000. Minor Research grants are open to Fellows and other researchers who have links with the UK.
The benefaction of Miss Joan Pye has been used to establish an award scheme to assist scholars who have completed their post-graduate degree within the last five years. The aim of the scheme is to assist research work in the fields of prehistoric and Roman archaeology in the United Kingdom.
This award was instituted in memory of Hugh Chapman, the Society's General Secretary from 1988 to 1992. Grants are awarded to research projects within Hugh Chapman's areas of interest, especially the Western Roman Empire and antiquarian matters in London and its environs.
Tessa and Mortimer Wheeler Memorial Fund
This Fund was established in memory of Sir Mortimer and Tessa Verney Wheeler as the result of an appeal by the British Academy, the Institute of Archaeology and the Society of Antiquaries. The purpose of the fund is to assist students of archaeology (undergraduates or first-year post-graduate) to gain experience in the field in the UK and abroad. A total of £2,000 is available each year, with successful applicants receiving up to £500.
The William Lambarde (1536–1601) Memorial Fund
This Fund was established as a result of a bequest to the Society by Mrs M M Lambarde with additional funding from the Society. The fund gives grants for scholarships for travel in the field of archaeology or antiquarian studies. These awards are made annually with approximately £2,000 being available each year; successful applicants can receive amounts up to £500.
The Janet Arnold (1932–1998) Award
Miss Arnold established this award to further in-depth studies of the history of Western dress. Applicants must be able to demonstrate that they wish to pursue a particular piece of original research based on items of dress or their remains with a view to eventually disseminating the results through publication, display, cataloguing, teaching or through practical use in conservation or accurate reproduction. The award may be used for travel, accommodation and incidental expenses such as the purchase of photographs.
The Society of Antiquaries of London has received an extension to its funding stream from the Headley Trust in order to augment our research support for British archaeology. This Headley Trust Research Bursary will be awarded for 2007 and 2008. The Research Committee has decided that this funding can best be used to assist in the synthesis and communication of research or outputs from excavation or field work that will make an important contribution to British archaeology. In addition to supporting the analysis of results of research projects, the scheme aims to support those working in the independent and commercial sectors who wish to bring important new discoveries to full academic publication.
The total grant available for distribution is £30,000 over two years. The Research Committee will look to awarding a total of £15,000 in each year of the award. Depending on applications, one or multiple awards may be granted in each year.
Grants for conservation work
The William and Jane Morris Fund
The Morris Fund was formed in 1939 following the death of May Morris, the younger daughter of William and Jane Morris. By the terms of her will the Society received her residuary estate ‘for the purpose of providing a fund for the protection of ancient buildings', so perpetuating one of her father's chief interests.
May Morris required that grants should be made only to works that are carried out accordance with the principles of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). In practice the income from the fund has been devoted almost entirely to making grants towards the repair of churches and church fittings.
The income of the Fund is not large (approximately £13,000 a year). The Fund committee is composed of Officers of the Society and Fellows qualified to advise on applications.
Applications must be received by 31 March for consideration in the following
May or by 31 August for consideration in the
following November.