Jonathan Foyle is a British architectural historian, broadcaster and advocate for heritage sites. He is also an artist.

Background

Foyle grew up in

Market Deeping Market Deeping is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, on the north bank of the River Welland and the A15 road. The population of the town at the 2011 census was 6,008. History The town's ma ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

and attended

The Deepings School The Deepings School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located on Park Road in Deeping St James (near Peterborough) in Lincolnshire, England. , the school is attended by almost 1,500 pupils aged 11 to 18 ...

. He has a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

from the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. The art collection is known particularly for ...

where he trained as an architect, and later worked for a year surveying the architectural details and structure of

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...

. He then became Curator of Historic Buildings for

Historic Royal Palaces Historic Royal Palaces is an independent charity that manages the United Kingdom's unoccupied royal palaces: * The Tower of London * Hampton Court Palace * The State Apartments and Orangery at Kensington Palace * The Banqueting House, Whiteh ...

for eight years. During this time Foyle produced a thesis on the early history of

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...

and received a doctorate from the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

in 2002. He also has an honorary degree in Conservation and Restoration from the

University of Lincoln The University of Lincoln is a public university, public research university in Lincoln, England, Lincoln, England, with origins dating back to 1861. It gained university status in 1992 and its present name in 2001. The main campus is in the hea ...

Career

Foyle has written many scholarly papers and additionally contributed articles for a number of newspapers and popular magazines. He is perhaps best known as a communicator on history. He has taught and lectured in Britain and around the world and has appeared and presented a number of television broadcasts. Since 2002, he has presented films for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

, the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, the

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York City, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washin ...

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

and

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

s. In 2009 he presented a series on

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

as art patron. In 2010 he presented a television series ''

Climbing Great Buildings ''Climbing Great Buildings'' is a British television series made for the BBC by ITN Productions. The series, first broadcast on BBC Two from 6 to 28 September 2010, consists of fifteen half-hour programmes each featuring one famous British struct ...

''. In 2007 Foyle accepted the position of Chief Executive of

World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training ...

Britain, the UK arm of a global charity, which aims to secure imperilled architectural sites for future generations.

Television

BBC One

* ''Inside Out'' (Feb. 2010), reporter on Gloucestershire’s pyramids * ''The One Show'' (2009), reporter on historic architecture

BBC Two

* ''Climbing Great Buildings'' (2010), presenter, 15-part series, along with climber Lucy Creamer * ''The People’s Museum'' (2006), reporter * ''History Mysteries'' (2005), series co-presenter * ''Meet The Ancestors: The Lost Palace Of Hampton Court'' (2002), specialist

BBC Four

* ''People’s Palaces: The Golden Age Of Civic Architecture'' (2010) 2 x 1 hour, presenter * ''Henry VIII: Patron Or Plunderer?'' (2009) 2 x 1 hour, presenter

Channel 4

* ''Time Team Special: Henry VIII's Lost Palaces'' (2009), specialist contributor * ''Time Team Special: The Arcadian Garden'' (2007), specialist contributor * ''Time Team Special: The Royal Palaces: Buckingham Palace'' (2006), specialist contributor * ''Time Team'' (2003– ), specialist contributor, including

Kew Palace Kew Palace is a British royal palace within the grounds of Kew Gardens on the banks of the River Thames. Originally a large complex, few elements of it survive. Dating to 1631 but built atop the undercroft of an earlier building, the main surv ...

Syon House Syon House is the west London residence of the Duke of Northumberland. A Grade I listed building, it lies within the 200-acre (80 hectare) Syon Park, in the London Borough of Hounslow. The family's traditional central London residence had b ...

Greenwich Palace Greenwich ( , , ) is an area in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian ...

Queenborough Castle Queenborough Castle, also known as Sheppey Castle, is a 14th-century castle, the remnants of which are in the town of Queenborough on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent in England. The castle and the associated planned town were built on the orders of Kin ...

Hunstrete House Hunstrete () is a small village on the River Chew in the Chew Valley, Bath and North East Somerset, England. It falls within the civil parish of Marksbury and is from Bath and Bristol, and from Keynsham. It is just off the A368 between Marksb ...

, Chenies Manor

History Channel US

* ''Lost Worlds: The Pyramids'' (2008), investigator * ''Lost Worlds: The Sphinx'' (2008), investigator * ''Lost Worlds: The Vikings'' (2007), investigator * ''Lost Worlds: Henry VIII'' (2007), investigator

Five

* ''County Secrets'' (2008) 10-part series, presenter

History Channel UK

* ''Hidden House History'' (2006), co-presenter

Professional history

* 2007–present chief Executive, World Monuments Fund Britain * 2003–2007 freelance historian, teacher, presenter, consultant * 1996–2003 curator of Historic Buildings, Hampton Court and Kew Palaces, Historic Royal Palaces * 1995–1996 assistant to the Surveyor of the Fabric, Canterbury Cathedral

Publications

* The Architecture of Canterbury Cathedral Scala (2012) * ‘Conservation areas in China: the case of the Juanqinzhai in Beijing’ with Henry Tzu-Ng English Heritage Conservation Bulletin 62 (2009) * ‘Some examples of external colouration on English brick buildings, c. 1500–1650’ Bulletin du Centre de recherche du château de Versailles ‘Couleurs de l'architecture’(2002) * 'A Reconstruction of Thomas Wolsey's Great Hall at Hampton Court Palace' Architectural History Vol 45 (2002) pp. 128–58 Illustrations for: * ‘Interpretations of the Rebuilding of Canterbury Cathedral, 1174–1186: Archaeological and Historical Evidence’ Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 1997, Peter Draper

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Foyle, Jonathan British broadcasters Alumni of the University of Lincoln Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of the University of Reading Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art People from the Deepings