About

Architrave Historical Services is run by historian, author, curator and broadcaster Dr Simon Thurley CBE to provide expert advice to owners of important historical architecture and their collections on a wide range of historical issues.

Architrave is a history and heritage consultancy run by Simon Thurley previously chief executive of English Heritage (2003-2015),
director of the Museum of London (1996-2003) and curator and surveyor of the fabric at Historic Royal Palaces (1988-1996).

Simon Thurley and his colleagues, many of whom he has worked with for a decade or more, have unrivalled expertise
and practical experience of dealing with important historic buildings and interiors and their collections.

Architrave advises on planning and listed building issues, conservation and restoration, display and exhibitions,
historic interiors and interior design, collections and collection development as well as business consultancy on buildings,
estates and museums operated as visitor attractions.

Client Portfolio

Team

Simon Thurley

CBE, PHD, FSA, FRHISTS, FRIBA

Managing Director

Simon Thurley is a leading historian of English architecture, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Historical
Research in London and Gresham Professor of the Built Environment. For 13 years he was chief executive of English Heritage,
the national heritage agency responsible for heritage protection and the management of England’s National Heritage
Collection of 420 sites and monuments including Stonehenge. Before that he was director of the Museum of London.
He has written twelve books and made many television programmes about historic buildings.

Chezzy Brownen

Project Manager

Chezzy is an experienced museum Registrar and exhibitions Project Manager working for museums, art galleries and country
house collections. She has worked for the National Trust, where she was Registrar for over 300 houses across the UK,
as well as Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham. More recently,
she was the Consultant Registrar for Harewood House Trust on a museum accreditation project. Chezzy was previously the
Museum Development Officer for Bath and North East Somerset representing 38 museums and heritage organisations.
In addition, she worked on a project to provide recommendations for Bath in response to a UNESCO World Heritage Site
report on the city.

Nicole Newman

Fundraising & Sponsorship Consultant

Nicole Newman Fundraising & Sponsorship is a consultancy company with experience of delivering successful fundraising
strategies for major cultural and education organisations in the UK and internationally. Established by Nicole Newman in 2016,
we provide strategic support, training, mentoring, and hands-on fundraising for a wide range of sectors including museums
and galleries, performing arts, music, design, fashion and film, universities and charities. Recent clients
include the Treasure Houses Exhibition, St Hugh’s College Oxford University, Barbican Centre, Birmingham
Symphony Hall, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, Aarhus Royal College of Music in Denmark, and training programmes
for Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy.

Nicole has over 25 years of experience in senior development roles in major arts organisations including Development Director
at English National Ballet, English National Opera and Somerset House Trust and Head of Corporate Fundraising at V&A and
Tate where she worked on several heritage exhibitions.

Simon Neal

Researcher/archivist

Simon is a freelance historical researcher and documents specialist. A qualified archivist with a degree in Latin, he has recently been employed as a project officer on the Manorial Documents Register for Leicestershire and Rutland. Before that he worked for several years on the project Completing the Patent Rolls for Elizabeth I, and then on a project about St Stephen’s Chapel, Westminster. He has also worked for many years as a researcher at The National Archives, specialising in medieval and early modern documents.

Ann Sumner

Audience Development Consultant

Ann is a senior museum manager and exhibition curator, with a passion for creating visitor focused organisations.
She is a former Director of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts and Birmingham Museums Trust, Head of Fine Art at
the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff and was Barber Professor of Fine Arts and Curatorial Practice at the
University of Birmingham from 2007 – 2012. She was Head of Cultural Engagement at the University of Leeds and is
a Fellow of Aberystwyth University. She was the strategic lead for the Yorkshire Year of the Textile (2016 – 17)
a successful programme of artistic commissioning and audience development across the region. She has published
widely and is a Trustee of a number of museums. Currently she is Historic Collections Adviser at Harewood House Trust.

Jeremy Musson

M.Phil, FSA

Historic Buildings Consultant

Jeremy Musson is an experienced architectural historian, author and broadcaster. Architectural Editor at Country Life, 1998-2007, and a National Trust assistant curator, 1993-1995, he has a wide experience of researching and interpreting all aspects of the architectural history of the country house. He is the author of twenty books, including English Country House Interiors and How to Read a Country House. Since 2008, he has worked as a historic buildings consultant, and advises clients from the National Trust to the dean and chapter of St Paul’s Cathedral.

He is a trustee of the Country Houses Foundation and of the Stowe House Preservation Trust, and sits on the Ely Cathedral Fabric Advisory Committee. He is a brother of the Art Workers’ Guild, an affiliate of the IHBC and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He is an hon tutor to the Plunket Scholars of the SPAB since 2008, and editor of The Victorian.

Tori Reeve

Freelance Curator

Until 2016 Tori Reeve was Chief Curator at Leeds Castle, Kent one of the Treasure Houses of England. Before that she was the Principal of Interior Design and Furnishing at the Palace of Westminster and Curator of Collections and Special projects at English Heritage. As well as masterminding new displays at Leeds Castle Tori led the major Charles Darwin Exhibition at Down House and a ground-breaking presentation project at Kenilworth castle.

Kate Francis

Administration

Kate is an experienced administrator with a background in project management, organisational development,
human resources and marketing in the UK public and charitable sectors.

Contact

Email: info@architrave.co