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Blue plaque honour for pioneering first female professor

7 October 2024
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Professors Karen O'Brien and Sarah Semple look at a round blue plaque, set against a red brick wall, in honour of Professor Dame Rosemary Cramp.

Renowned archaeologist Professor Dame Rosemary Cramp has been honoured with a blue plaque at her former Durham City home.

Rosemary, who died in 2023, aged 93, was Durham University’s first female professor and was instrumental in setting up our Department of Archaeology.

The City of Durham Parish Council marked her achievements by installing the plaque at 12 Church Street.

Rosemary lived there from November 1972 to June 1988 and it was where she carried out much of her research.

Accomplished archaeologist

The plaque was unveiled by our Vice-Chancellor and Warden, Professor Karen O’Brien, and Rosemary’s close friend and colleague Professor Sarah Semple, of our Department of Archaeology.

Dame Rosemary was a pioneering female researcher and an extremely accomplished archaeologist, who was held in very high regard by her students and peers throughout the world. It is fitting that her many achievements are being commemorated with a blue plaque in the City that she loved and was her home for so many years.
Professor Karen O’Brien
Vice-Chancellor and Warden, Durham University

During her career, Rosemary led the excavations at the twin monastery of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow, in north-east England, which was home to the Venerable Bede.

She also founded the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture research project – the first comprehensive catalogue of the surviving stone sculptures from pre-Conquest England.

Inspirational figure

In 1971, Rosemary became the first woman to be promoted to Professor at Durham University and was an inspirational figure to many within and beyond archaeology.

She became a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the Royal Honours List of 2011 in recognition of her services to scholarship.

A portrait of Professor Dame Rosemary Cramp standing in front of a tree on a sunny day

Professor Dame Rosemary Cramp became Durham University's first female professor in 1971. She was Head of the Department of Archaeology at Durham University for 19 years, from 1971-1990.

A circular blue metal plaque fixed to a red brick wall. The plaque honours Professor Dame Rosemary Cramp.

To honour Rosemary's many achievements, the City of Durham Parish Council has installed a blue plaque on her former home of 12 Church Street in Durham.

A group of women smile at the camera as they stand in front of a circular metal blue plaque fixed to a red brick wall.

The blue plaque was unveiled by Durham University's Vice-Chancellor and Warden, Professor Karen O'Brien (second left) and Professor Sarah Semple (second right), of our Department of Archaeology. They were joined by Parish Councillors Carole Lattin (left) and Victoria Ashfield (right).

A group of men and women stand in front of a circular blue metal plaque set against a red brick wall.

Former colleagues of Rosemary and members of our Department of Archaeology also attended the blue plaque unveiling.

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Professor Cramp helped to develop the University’s Archaeology department to what it is today and, in so doing, paved the way for future female academics to come. It is only right that we honour this contribution and I hope that this blue plaque acts as a source of inspiration to all our students who travel this route each day to their place of study.
Councillor Carole Lattin
City of Durham Parish Council

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