The TCC

The Textile Conservation Centre was founded by Karen Finch OBE, in 1975. From then until 1999 it was based in Hampton Court Palace.  Karen Finch retired from the TCC in 1986.

In 1999, following a merger with the University of Southampton, the TCC moved to a purpose-designed building on the University's Winchester campus following a major fundraising campaign by the TCC Foundation.

The University decided to close the TCC in 2009 - a decision which caused an international outcry.

Three decades of work by the TCC's staff and graduates had transformed textile conservation internationally and it was felt to be vital that this work was not lost.

Over 250 textile conservators trained at the TCC as well as 140 curators. Between 1999 and 2009 alone the TCC's staff published nearly 250 books, edited volumes and papers. In that period the TCC staff also raised millions of pounds for research, including the £948,000 award from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, as well as hundreds of thousands of pounds in bursaries. The TCC was rightly described by Jerry Podany, President of IIC, as 'national treasure for Britain, a national treasure on which the other national treasures depend' (The World This Weekend, BBC Radio 4, April 19th 2009).

Thanks to the unstinting efforts of the TCC Foundation's Trustees, a new Centre has been established within Glasgow University to continue where the TCC left off.  The new Centre for Textile Conservation and Technical Art History is NOT the TCC - rather it is an exciting new development which will take the TCC's legacy forward in new and important directions.

The Trustees of the TCC Foundation are delighted with this outcome - Glasgow is the best possible home for textile conservation education and research.  The new Centre's staff, led by Frances Lennard, are working closely with museum colleagues in GlasgowLife and the National Museums Scotland among many others.  The warmth of the welcome for the new Centre has been overwhelming and the potential for it to develop within Glasgow and Scotland is very exciting.