A one-day conference, organised by the Lincoln Record Society, (in association with the Society for Lincolnshire History & Archaeology) to be held at the National Civil War Centre, Newark on Saturday 17 October 2026, 9.30am to 4.30pm.
In 1976, John Morrill’s seminal work The Revolt of the Provinces energised local studies of the English Civil War. Rather than focusing on constitutional clashes at Westminster, it shifted attention to the shires, boroughs and localities in which civil war allegiances were forged, negotiated and contested. For most people living in England at the time, the county rather than the country was their main frame of reference: when war came, the forces of localism and neutralism were often as strong as ideological attachment to parliamentarianism or royalism. Fifty years on, Morrill’s view of a conflict defined by local perspectives remains vital, stimulating ongoing debates about the dynamic and complex relationship between centre and locality in the early modern period. This conference, hosted by the Lincoln Record Society at the National Civil War Centre in Newark, pays tribute to Morrill’s work by showcasing new and emerging research on the English Civil War that explores its local and regional dimensions.
Alongside keynote addresses by Professor Ann Hughes and Dr David J. Appleby, there will be panels of talks dedicated to local experiences of warfare, the relationship between centre and locality, and the contested legacies of the conflict.
Speakers scheduled to participate include: Waseem Ahmed (University College London); David J. Appleby (University of Nottingham); Alex Beeton (History of Parliament); Sarah Betts (University of York); Thomas Brown-Warr (Lincoln Bishop University); Andrew Hopper (University of Oxford); Ann Hughes (Keele University); Jade Jesty (University of Cambridge); Charlotte Parsonson-Young (University of Oxford); and William White (Birmingham Newman University).
Registration 9.30am-10.00am; conference presentations begin at 10.00am; programme ends at 4.30pm.
Conference fees including lunch and refreshments: £30 for members of the Lincoln Record Society and SLHA; £38 for non-members.
To book a place, please see: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-revolt-of-the-provinces-local-dimensions-of-the-english-civil-war-tickets-1995903786955