An essay examining Romanesque or Norman sculpture in Cornwall has won its author the £2,000 first prize in this year’s Royal Institution of Cornwall’s Cardew-Rendle History Prize.

Dr Alex Woodcock, from Falmouth, received his cheque from artist Kurt Jackson at the end of the Royal Institution of Cornwall spring lecture. Currently a mature student on the professional writing course at Falmouth University, his well researched study of twelfth century art in the county, entitled “Reconsidering the Romanesque Sculpture of Cornwall,” won the judges’ praise.

“It is a very fluent and easy to read piece that made me want to tour Cornwall and discover its architectural heritage,” said Ian Wall, director of the Royal Cornwall Museum. “We all agreed that the standard of entries this year was very high but Alex’s essay just had the edge over the two runners-up.”

Alex said: “I’m really surprised and pleased to have won. To have your work recognised in this way is just fantastic. I came to Cornwall to develop my writing in new directions and this award is wonderful encouragement that I’ve made the right decision. The prize money will allow me to complete my MA course and concentrate on the book I’m currently researching and writing on the medieval sculpture of Devon and Cornwall.”

The runners-up were James Church with “An American in St Ives – W. Elmer Schofield in Cornwall through the photographs of W. Herbert Lanyon, 1903-07” and Samuel John Drake with “Merchants and Smugglers, Shipmen and Pirates: A Case Study of Fowey during The Hundred Years’ War, c.13337-1399.” Both received prizes of £250 each.

Aimed at encouraging interest in the county's rich cultural heritage, the bi-annual essay prize is the legacy of Harold Cornelius Cardew-Rendle - a keen historian who never lived in the county, but whose ancestor, the RevCornelius Cardew, was master of Truro Grammar School and rector of St Erme in the late eighteenth century.