Projects per year
Personal profile
Research Interests
I am an historical geographer with particular research expertise in interpreting historic landscapes, maps, and built environments.
My research covers the fields of: Historical/cultural geography; Landscape history/archaeology; Histories of cartography/archaeology of cartography; Urban morphology/urban history/urban archaeology; Heritage studies/heritage practice.
Recent career highlights for me include:
1. Receiving in 2018 from the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) the Cuthbert Peek Award "For advancing geographical knowledge through the application of contemporary methods, including GIS and mapping."
2. Leading as PI the £1.7m "Living Legacies 1914-18" public engagement centre (2014-2020) funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council and resulting in a REF2021 Impact Case Study for QUB Geography.
3. Chairing the Historic Towns Trust (2014-22) and successfully delivering 3 new British Historic Towns Atlas volumes as part of an international publications programme of European Historic Towns Atlases.
4. Winning bilateral funding from Irish Research Council and Arts and Humanities Research Council for a 3-year (2022-24) collaborative digital humanities research project on the bicentenary of the Ordnance Survey in Ireland.
Current projects include completing a new book, with the tentative title of 'Realms of Rule—Urban Bodies and Sovereign Space', exploring the idea of 'rule' as both power and measure, and how the two spatially connect through the formation of 'new towns' of the Middle Ages.
Ongoing research and writing projects include combining GIS and prosopography in analysing historic maps of Britain and Ireland, and tracing global histories of field-surveying and geodetics through landscapes and maps.
Future research project plans include combining urban morphology and corpus linguistics to analyse the practices of urban planning across medieval Europe.
My books include:
• Urban Life in the Middle Ages: 1000-1450 (Palgrave, 2002)
• City and Cosmos: The Medieval World in Urban Form (Reaktion, 2009)
• Mapping Medieval Geographies (Cambridge University Press, 2014)
I am Co-PI on an AHRC-IRC funded digital humanities international research project called 'OS200--Digitally Re-Mapping Ireland's Ordnance Survey Heritage', an all-island (UK-RoI) research collaboration between Queen's University Belfast, University of Limerick and the Royal Irish Academy. Information at go.qub.ac.uk/IrelandMapped
I also lead a NLHF-funded community heritage project called 'Mapping Monuments' with the Binevenagh and Coastal Lowlands Landscape Partnership Scheme/Causeway Coast & Glens Heritage Trust, see go.qub.ac.uk/MappingMonuments for details.
At Queen's, I am a lead convenor of the Heritage Hub--see heritagehub.ac.uk
In the School of Natural and Built Environment (SNBE) I am research cluster lead for 'PAST'--a cross-disciplinary forum in Geography, Archaeology & Paleoecology (GAP) for bringing like-minded researchers together with a shared interest in exploring Places, Archaeologies, Societies, and Time (=PAST), encompassing historical-cultural geography and historical-cultural archaeology especially.
Achievements
Awards and Distinctions
- Institute Fellow, The Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, QUB, 2016-
- Institute Fellow, Institute for Collaborative Research in the Humanities (ICRH), QUB, 2013
- Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, UCLA, 2008
- Leverhulme Research Fellowship, 2006-7
- British Academy Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship, 1996-1999
Elected and appointed positions on external research bodies:
- Chair, Historic Towns Trust/British Historic Towns Atlas, 2014-2022
- Board Member, International Commission of the History of Towns (ICHT), 2011-
- Chair, ‘Spatial Technologies and the Medieval City’ (STeMCity) research network, 2011-13
- UK Co-representative, General Assembly of the International Commission of the History of Towns (ICHT), 2010-
- Board member, British Historic Towns Atlas Committee, 2006-
- Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHS), elected 2005.
- Council Officer (Treasurer), 2005-2008, International Seminar on Urban Form (ISUF)
- Conference officer, 1997-2000, Historical Geography Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society.
- Committee member, 1998-2000, 2003-2006, Medieval Settlement Research Group.
Teaching
Current Teaching:
GGY1011 Human Geography: Society, Power & Culture
GGY2002 Landscapes and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
GGY2064 Urban Landscapes
GGY3090 Maps and Mappings
Current Administrative Roles
School of NBE, 'PAST' Research Cluster Lead/Director
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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R1119GGY: AHRC - AH/H014489/1 - Linguistic Geographies - The Gough Map of Great Britian and its making
01/08/2009 → …
Project: Research
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Landscape mapping and symbolic form: drawing as a creative medium in cultural geography
Lilley, K., 2000, Cultural Turns/ Geographical Turns. Ryan, J., Naylor, S., Crouch, D. & Cook, I. (eds.). London: Longman, p. 231 245 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Decline or decay? Urban landscapes in late-medieval England
Lilley, K., 2000, Towns in Decline. AD100-1600. Slater, T. (ed.). Ashgate Publishing, p. 235 265 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Exploring change in urban areas using GIS: data sources, linkages and problems
Lilley, K., Lloyd, C., Shuttleworth, I. & Gregory, I., Mar 2012, In: Annals of GIS. 18, 1, p. 71-80 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
9 Citations (Scopus) -
A silent witness? Medieval urban landscapes and unfolding their mapping histories
Lilley, K. D. & Dean, G., 2015, In: Journal of Medieval History. 41, 3, p. 273-291 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
3 Citations (Scopus) -
Maps of Medieval Thought? Cartographical Imaginaries, Cultural Symbolism and Urban Forms of the Late Middle Ages
Lilley, K., Oct 2015, Lords and Towns in Medieval Europe: The European Historic Towns Atlas Project. Simms, A. & Clarke, H. B. (eds.). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, p. 399-418 20 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
Prizes
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CAST (Co-operative Awards in Science and Technology) Doctoral Studentship
Purdue, Olwen (Recipient) & Lilley, Keith (Recipient), 2022
Prize: Other distinction
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Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
Lilley, Keith (Recipient), 2005
Prize: Election to learned society
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Institute Fellow, Institute for Collaborative Research in the Humanities, QUB
Lilley, Keith (Recipient), 2012
Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively
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Leverhulme Research Fellowship
Lilley, Keith (Recipient), 2006
Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively
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Mapping medieval geographies conference, UCLA
Lilley, Keith (Recipient), 2009
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
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Revisiting New Towns of the Middle Ages - a conference and field seminar
Keith Lilley (Organiser)
May 2010Activity: Talk or presentation types › Public lecture/debate/seminar
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Castle towns and conquerors conference
Keith Lilley (Keynote/plenary speaker)
2011Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
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The Language of Maps
Keith Lilley (Organiser)
Jun 2011Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
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Unravelling historical geographies of British cartography: The uses of GIS in quantifying and comparing changes in medieval and modern maps and map-making - research seminar
Keith Lilley (Speaker)
Dec 2011Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
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11th European Urban History Conference
Keith Lilley (Speaker)
Aug 2012Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference