Border Control: Excursion, Incursion and Exclusion

Early Bird

• Existing Members — £175.00
• Existing Members Students and Concessions — £115.00
• Non-Members — £290.00
• Non-Member Students and Concessions — £230.00

The cut off for early bird registration is 31st May 2024.

Full Price

• Existing Members — £200.00
• Existing Student and Concession Members — £130.00
• Non-Members — £315.00
• Non-Member Students and Concessions — £245.00

The DHS 2024 conference will be taking place in person only.

Please click here for registration bookings.

There is an optional programme of study visits and tours on the morning of Thursday 5th September and a Gala Dinner on Friday 6th September. These must be booked separately from registration by clicking here.

Gala Dinner
Friday 6th September 2024
Westgate Hall
19.00-23.00

Please join us on Friday 6th September for the conference Gala Dinner. The evening will take place in Westgate Hall, an early twentieth-century former drill hall in the heart of Canterbury. The ticket covers a three-course sharing platter and buffet dinner (all vegetarian/vegan), and two bottles of wine per table. There will be a pay bar at the venue.

Cost: £65 

Canterbury Cathedral Tour
Thursday 5th September
Canterbury Cathedral (meet at main entrance)
10.00-11.30

A guided tour around this remarkable Gothic edifice, now part of the Canterbury UNESCO World Heritage Site. Founded in 597AD on the command of Pope Gregory by St Augustine, the complex has been expanded, destroyed and rebuilt over the centuries. Highlights include the fan vaulted cross tower, 55m long Quire, royal tombs and mediaeval stained glass. Led by official cathedral guides the tour, in groups of 15, will focus on the architectural history of the site and will last 90 minutes.

Cost: £20.50 

St Augustine’s Abbey Tour
Thursday 5th September
St Augustine’s Abbey (meet at main entrance)
10.30 – 12.00

A guided tour around the ruins of this Romanesque Abbey, also founded by St Augustine in 597AD to convert the English back to Christianity after the collapse of Roman rule. The tour includes the museum and the former Victorian St Augustine’s College, designed by William Butterfield in the 1840s. Led by an English Heritage tour guide in groups of 20, the tour lasts one hour.

Cost £12.50

Please note: Booking reserves your place, but you will need to pay the venue directly at the start of the tour.

Canterbury: A walk towards, on and around the walls
Thursday 5th September
Meet at entrance of UCA Canterbury main campus
10.30-12.00

A walking tour starting from the modernist University for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, originally opened in 1971 as Canterbury College of Art. The tour hugs the city wall and will take in Dane John Gardens and the Castle. It will then continue along the river before diving into the city itself with some of its more interesting buildings. Led by architect Daniel Stilwell of Charles Holland Architects, the tour lasts 90 minutes.

Cost £15

Design History Society Publishing Workshop: Serialising your Research for Diverse Audiences
Wednesday 4th September
Rochester House Third Floor
2.00-5.45

This workshop introduces participants to how academic research can be serialised and presented in formats targeted towards diverse audiences such as academic book publishing, peer-reviewed articles, and public-facing platforms like social media. Download the full programme.

To book please email designarchresearch@uca.ac.uk. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Design History Society offers bursaries for DHS Students and/or precariously employed members. The bursary covers the DHS member concessionary conference fee. For more information please visit the Society’s website.

UCA Canterbury

Our campus at Canterbury is tucked away a short walk from the city centre, and has been the home of our School of Architecture and Design for more than 60 years. It’s also home to our fine art and visual communication courses. And it’s recently expanded, with the opening of the UCA Doctoral College – the base for our world-leading researchers – a short distance away. Registration and all the conference parallel sessions will take place at Rochester House. Keynote lectures will be in the Cragg Lecture Theatre on the main campus, a five-minute walk away.

Travelling by train:

Canterbury is served by two train stations: Canterbury West and Canterbury East. High Speed services to Canterbury West run hourly from London St Pancras (54 minutes) and London Stratford International (46 minutes).  

There are regular services to Canterbury East from London Victoria (1 hour 30 minutes) and Dover Priory (28 minutes).  

UCA Canterbury Campus is a 20-25 minute walk from Canterbury West station and a 15-minute walk from Canterbury East. Both stations have taxi ranks outside.  

If you are travelling to the UK via the Eurostar, you will arrive at London St Pancras where you can take a direct service to Canterbury West. 

Travelling by car:

Canterbury is served by the M2 motorway direct from London and the Port of Dover and has Park and Ride facilities located at Wincheap and New Dover Road (more information here). 

As there is no car parking available to guests on campus, we recommend that delegates do not drive to the conference itself unless there is a specific accessibility requirement. If you do have an accessibility requirement please contact the conference team in advance at designarchresearch@uca.ac.uk.

Should you wish to drive to Canterbury, the nearest public car park is Longport, which is a 5 minute walk from the conference.

Should you be staying outside of the city, Canterbury city council also offers a park and ride scheme.

International travel

International visitors can reach us using a variety of means:

Ferry: Port of Dover (20 minutes)

Eurostar: London St Pancras

London Airports: City, Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted airports are all reachable via public transport or car.

There are a number of hotels in Canterbury city centre which are walking distance from the campus (CT1 3AN). Some nearby options include:

Hampton by Hilton Canterbury (11 minute walk). Hampton by Hilton is offering delegates a 10% discount. Please email conference administrator Liz Baxter at designarchresearch@uca.ac.uk to be provided with the link.

Premier Inn Canterbury City Centre (1 minute walk)

Travelodge Canterbury Chaucer Central (5 minute walk)