More than 40 Years of the Croome Lecture
William Iveson Croome, CBE,
MA, FSA, was born in November 1891, the only son of Thomas and Mary Croome of
North Cerney House. In later years he lived at Bagendon House and, finally, at
Barton Mill House, Cirencester.
A devout churchman, the local parish churches of
Bagendon and North Cerney in particular bear witness to his care and generosity.
His interest in and knowledge of ecclesiastical buildings led to his appointment
as Vice-Chairman of the Central Council for the Care of Churches in 1943. He
became Chairman of the Gloucester Diocesan Advisory Committee on Churches in
1944 and of the Grants Committee of the Historic Churches Preservation Trust in
1964. In 1953 he was made Chairman of the Cathedrals Advisory Committee for
England, a position which he held until his death in April 1967.
William, or “Will”, Croome was a familiar figure in
Cirencester, held in the highest regard by all who knew him, not only for his
knowledge and care of ancient buildings but also for his concern for the less
fortunate members of society. He was Chairman of Cirencester Magistrates for
many years.
In Gloucestershire, Croome was President of the Bristol
& Gloucestershire Archaeological Society in 1952, and his presidential
address on ‘Gloucestershire Churches’ was published in volume 72 of its
annual Transactions for the following year.
In Cirencester, he was a member of the Archaeological
& Historical Society from its inception and succeeded Viscount Dunrossil as
President in 1961. He was also a founder member of the Civic Society, and it was
to commemorate the man and his interests that the two Societies agreed to
establish the annual Croome Lecture. On the 10th February 1969 Brian
Ward-Perkins, the then Director of the British School in Rome, gave the first
lecture entitled “Town Planning in Antiquity”.
THE CROOME LECTURES
1 Feb 10th1969
Town Planning in Antiquity
by Bryan Ward-Perkins
2 March 20th1970
The Meaning and Purpose of English Medieval Wall
Paintings
by E. Clive Rouse
3 March 1st1971
Sir John Vanbrugh, Architect
by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner
4 Feb 28th1972
The Contribution of the West Country to Romanesque
Architecture
by Dr Peter Kidson
5 Feb 26th1973
John Aubrey
by Michael MacLagan
6 Feb 11th 1974
The evidence for a great 13th century restoration of
Gloucester Cathedral
by The Very Rev S.J.A. Evans
7 Feb 26th1975
Personal Reminiscences of Will Croome
by Miss J.D.G. Scott
8 Feb 25th1976
An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Armour in
Europe
by Claude Blair
9 Feb 16th 1977
Conservation – the realities and opportunities
by Prof Roy Worskett
10 Feb 21st 1978
Some thoughts on urbanisation in Iron Age and Roman
Britain
by John Wacher
11 Feb 21st.1979
Officialdom and the Care of Historic Buildings
by Ashley Barker
12 Feb 27th 1980
North African Journey
by Lady Wheeler
13 Feb 25th 1981
Matter of Life and Death: the Conservation of Churches
by the Dean of Winchester
14 Feb 24th.1982
Gloucestershire Churches in the 19th Century
by David Verey
15 Feb 23rd1983
Letters from a Cotswold Manor 1815-1867
by Canon A.J. Turner
16 Feb 22nd 1984
Some Thoughts on the Boroughs of Gloucestershire
by Prof Maurice Beresford
17 Feb 27th 1985
[title unknown]
by Sir Derek Barber, Chairman of the Countryside
Commission
18 Feb 26th 1986
Anglo-Saxon Cirencester and its Environs
by David Brown
19 Feb 25th 1987
Life as a District Commissioner in Kenya
by Robin Wainwright
20 Feb 24th 1988
Cirencester’s Contribution to the Development of Urban
Archaeology
by Alan McWhirr
[published in Miscellany, no 1, Cirencester
Archaeological & Historical Society, 1988, pp.11-16]
21 Feb 22nd 1989
Towards a cleaner nineties, the work of the Tidy Britain
Group
by Prof Graham Ashworth
22 Feb 28th 1990
The Stained and Painted Glass of York Minster and its
Restoration
by Peter Gibson
23 Feb 28th 1991
Townscape
by Prof Derek Lovejoy
24 Feb 26th 1992
Old Gardening Books and their Influence on my Garden
by Rosemary Verey
25 Feb 15th 1993
William Iveson Croome – his work for the care of
churches
by Jonathan Mackechnie-Jarvis, Assistant Secretary to
the Diocese of Gloucester
26 Feb 23rd 1994
Of those that devise cunning works
by Dr Isabel Elliott, Mistress of Embroidery for
Gloucester Cathedral
27 Feb 20th 1995
Palladian Bridges – the crossing to the Elysian Fields
by Dr. Timothy Mowl
28 Feb 28th 1996
Medieval Stained Glass in Gloucestershire Churches
by Dr. Steven Blake, Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum
29 Feb 17th 1997
Tomorrow’s Countryside
by Jonathan Porritt
30 Feb 11th 1998
Pilgrimage in Medieval Gloucestershire
by Tim Porter
31 Feb 10th 1999
Churches and the changing shape of towns
by Dr Terry Slater, University of Birmingham
32 Feb 23rd 2000
Cirencester Parish Church: an archaeological review of
its fabric and furnishings
by Dr. Warwick Rodwell
33 Feb 20th 2001
New glass in old buildings
by Tom Denny
34 Feb 27th 2002
Twentieth Century Country Houses in the Cotswolds
by Nicholas Kingsley, Glos County & Diocesan
Archivist
35 Feb 26th 2003
Proverbs and Architecture
by Jim Thompson, Chairman of Cirencester Civic Society
36 Feb 25th 2004
S.E. Dykes Bower: a Gloucestershire architect, with
reference to F.C. Eden and Will Croome
by Alan Rome
37 Feb 22nd 2005
A Century Ago: the Cirencester of Daniel George Bingham
by David Viner, Chairman of Cirencester Archaeological
& Historical Society
38 Feb 20th 2006
The Future of the Parish Church in England
by Sir Simon Jenkins, journalist and author of
‘England’s Thousand Best Churches’
39 Feb 28th 2007
The Stained Glass of St. Mary’s, Fairford –
Conservator or Restorer?
by Keith Barley
40 Feb 27th2008
The Archaeology of Buildings
by Richard Morriss
41 Feb 2009
Berkeley Minster and the Anglo Saxon Church in Mercia
by Mark Horton, University of Bristol
42 Feb 27th 2010
The Ongoing Refurbishment of the Parish Church of St John the Baptist
by Malcolm James
