Staff profile

I became a Career Development Fellow in the department in 2024. Previously I was project curator at Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery working on the Royal Palace Reborn project, refurbishing the Norman keep and creating a new medieval gallery in partnership with the British Museum. I have worked as a curator in a number of institutions both in the UK and the US, including at the Auckland Project.

My research has focused on high-status medieval buildings, with a particular emphasis on episcopal castles and palaces. My doctoral work examined the development of Auckland Castle, the premier country residence of the Bishops of Durham, from the twelfth to the sixteenth century. This was undertaken partially in conjunction with my work curator as at The Auckland Project, and in conjunction with Durham University’s excavations of the site. I have since increasingly investigated other episcopal sites, including Durham Castle, exploring the architectural development of the buildings and the networks of patronage and builders surrounding them.

Research Interests

Medieval castles, palaces, and churches

Interpretation of material culture in museums

Management of archaeological collections and built heritage

Publications

 ‘The medieval Bishop’s Palace in Norwich’ 

Ferrara, A. (2025). Aspects of Norwich, Autumn 2025

‘Norwich Castle – Gateway to Medieval England’

Ferrara, A. (2021). Aylsham Local History Society, Vol 12 No. 2, p. 31-34.

‘Auckland Castle’

Ferrara, A. (2018). British Archaeology,158, p. 50-56.

‘An Exploration of a Late Roman Leather Cuirass From Karanis, Egypt’

 Ferrara, A. (2014) The Bulletin of The Association for Roman Archaeology, 22, p. 42-50

'A leather cuirass discovered at Karanis, Fayum, Egypt from the late 3rd to early 4th centuries A.D.'

Ferrara, A. (2012) Karanis Revealed: Discovering the Past and Present of a Michigan Excavation in Egypt, ed. T. G. Wilfong and A. W. S Ferrara, Kelsey Museum Publications vol. 7. Ann Arbor: Kelsey Museum of Archaeology