I am a first year PhD student at Lancaster University, having completed my M.A. in History two years ago. My M.A. thesis focussed on the medieval economy and society of Cumbria, focussing on the role of St. Bees Priory in the wider community and the regional importance of the Irish Sea zone. I also worked on the cultural importance of battlefields in the face of modern development, with case studies of Bosworth, Agincourt and Tewkesbury. My PhD will look at Cumbrian monastic houses near the Scottish border, and how they competed and cooperated in the 12th and 13th centuries. My background is in secondary school education, so I have a broad range of interests, from the Anglo-Saxons, to the fall of the USSR.

I am particularly interested in the Medieval period, and the use of case studies to exemplify wider trends and events.