Head of School of Conservation
Elizabeth Neville has over thirty years' experience as a book
conservator, interspersed with teaching and supervising on the
Graduate Diploma in Books and Library Materials and MA Conservation
Studies courses at West Dean (2004-10), and the MA in Paper
Conservation at Camberwell School of Arts and Craft (1996-7).
Elizabeth returned to West Dean following eight years in the
private sector, running HLF funded, work-based traineeships for
junior professionals in book and archive conservation. She has held
significant positions of responsibility with the Institute of
Conservation (Icon) and the Institute of Paper Conservation (IPC)
with a strong emphasis on training and professional development.
Elizabeth is an accredited member of Icon. She has an MA in
Conservation Studies from the University of Sussex and is a V&A
assessor for the level 4, Conservation and Collections Care
Technicians Diploma.
"I came to conservation via an early career in archaeology. This
was where I first experienced that sense of amazement at holding in
your hands something that is a physical link with the past, made
and used by people I could never know, yet providing a window onto
how things were. Being a conservator is a continuous process of
discovery, investigation and application of technique, all
undertaken for the purposes of helping people to understand and
appreciate history and preserving what is valued today for future
generations."
Research interests: conservation ethics and decision-making,
work-based learning, and artists' books.