# Dan Cruickshank > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Dan_Cruickshank > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Dan_Cruickshank.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Cruickshank > Source revision: 1330246296 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|British art historian and television presenter (born 1949)}} {{distinguish|Dane Cruikshank}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{Use British English|date=August 2012}} {{Infobox person |name = Dan Cruickshank OBE |image = Dan Cruickshank.jpg |image_size = |alt = |caption = Cruickshank in 2009 |birth_name = Daniel Gordon Raffan Cruickshank{{cite web |title=Daniel Gordon Raffan CRUICKSHANK – Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House) |url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/officers/PnJEOK_YL2ZIWide-Kfmx3n9pFw/appointments |publisher=Companieshouse.gov.uk |access-date=13 December 2019 |language=en}} |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1949|8|26|df=y}} |birth_place = |death_date = |death_place = |nationality = |known_for = |alma_mater = |occupation = {{Unbulleted list | Art historian | Television presenter | Author}} |years_active = |spouse = |partner = |children = 3 |parents = |relations = |awards = |signature = |website = |footnotes = }} '''Daniel Gordon Raffan Cruickshank''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE}} (born 26 August 1949) is a British [art historian](/source/art_historian) and [BBC](/source/BBC) [television](/source/television) presenter with a special interest in the history of [architecture](/source/architecture). ==Professional career== Cruickshank holds a BA in Art, Design and Architecture{{cite web|url=http://www.celebrityproductions.info/displayer_celebrities.php/58/Dan_Cruickshank|title=Bio|website=Celebrity Productions|access-date=16 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001030646/http://www.celebrityproductions.info/displayer_celebrities.php/58/Dan_Cruickshank|archive-date=1 October 2011|url-status=dead}} and was formerly a visiting professor in the Department of Architecture at the [University of Sheffield](/source/University_of_Sheffield){{Cite web |url=http://eustonarch.org/about-us/meet-the-team/ |title=Meet the Team | Euston Arch |access-date=5 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106104749/http://eustonarch.org/about-us/meet-the-team/ |archive-date=6 January 2017 |url-status=dead }} and a member of the London faculty of the [University of Delaware](/source/University_of_Delaware). He is an honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Artists, a member of the executive committee of the [Georgian Group](/source/Georgian_Group) and on the architectural panel of the [National Trust](/source/National_Trust). He is also an honorary fellow of the [Royal Institute of British Architects](/source/Royal_Institute_of_British_Architects). He has served as Historic Buildings Consultant for [ADAM Architecture](/source/ADAM_Architecture) since 1999 and has been involved in the repair and restoration of many historical buildings including [Spencer House](/source/Spencer_House_(St._James's%2C_London%2C_England)) in St James's, [Heveningham Hall](/source/Heveningham_Hall), in [Suffolk](/source/Suffolk) and numerous early 18th-century houses in [Spitalfields](/source/Spitalfields) and other parts of London.{{cite web|url=http://www.robertadamarchitects.com/RAA_team/biog_DC_short.htm |title=Professor Dan Cruickshank Biography |access-date=27 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820011146/http://www.robertadamarchitects.com/RAA_team/biog_DC_short.htm |archive-date=20 August 2008}} In 2014, he was appointed President of Subterranea Britannica, a UK-based society for all those interested in man-made and man-used underground structures and space.{{cite web | url = http://www.subbrit.org.uk/about | title = About Subterranea Britannica | access-date = 8 December 2014 }} His professional publications include ''London: the Art of Georgian Building'' (1975),{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lOxPAAAAMAAJ&q=London+the+art+of+georgian+building|title = London, the Art of Georgian Building|isbn = 9780803801431|last1 = Cruickshank|first1 = Dan|last2 = Wyld|first2 = Peter|year = 1975}} ''The National Trust and Irish Georgian Society Guide to the Georgian Buildings of Britain and Ireland'' (1985) and ''Life in the Georgian City'' (1990). He edited the 20th edition of ''[Sir Banister Fletcher's History of Architecture](/source/A_History_of_Architecture)''{{cite web |title=Dan Cruickshank – Speaker Profile |url=https://www.specialistspeakers.com/?p=812}} and ''Timeless Architecture: a study of key buildings in architectural history'' and is a contributing editor to ''Architects' Journal'', ''The Architectural Review'' and ''Perspectives on Architecture''. ==Television work== {{BLP sources section|date=April 2022}} Cruickshank began his career with the BBC as consultant, writer and presenter on the architectural programmes ''[One Foot in the Past](/source/One_Foot_in_the_Past)'' and ''The House Detectives''. He also contributed films to the ''[Timewatch](/source/Timewatch)'' {{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074pmc|title = BBC Two – Timewatch, 2001–2002, the Victorian Way of Death: From Body Snatching to Burning}} and ''[Omnibus](/source/Omnibus_(UK_TV_series))'' strands.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} In 2001 he wrote and presented the series ''[Invasion](/source/Invasion_(British_TV_series))'' in which he examined attempts and plans to invade [Britain](/source/Great_Britain) and [Ireland](/source/Ireland) over the years by exploring coastal [fortress](/source/fortress)es and [defensive](/source/defense_(military)) structures around the coast of the country to discover their military heritage. Further series included ''[Britain's Best Buildings](/source/Britain's_Best_Buildings)'' examining architecturally – or culturally-significant buildings in Great Britain, ''[Under Fire](/source/Under_Fire_(TV_series))'' visiting museums and buildings in [Afghanistan](/source/Afghanistan), [Iraq](/source/Iraq) and [Israel](/source/Israel) to see how recent warfare has affected the country's historic artefacts, and ''[What the Industrial Revolution Did for Us](/source/What_the_Industrial_Revolution_Did_for_Us)'' focusing on the scientific, technological and political changes of the 19th century. In 2003, Cruickshank presented a documentary entitled ''[Towering Ambitions: Dan Cruickshank at Ground Zero](/source/Towering_Ambitions%3A_Dan_Cruickshank_at_Ground_Zero)'' following the debate and discussion that led to the selection of [Daniel Libeskind's](/source/Daniel_Libeskind) design for the [World Trade Center site](/source/World_Trade_Center_site) in [New York City](/source/New_York_City); while in 2005 he presented a documentary on the [Mitchell and Kenyon](/source/Mitchell_and_Kenyon) collection – rolls of [nitrate film](/source/Nitrocellulose) shot in the early 20th century, depicting everyday life in [Britain](/source/Great_Britain), which were discovered in 1994 in [Blackburn](/source/Blackburn). In 2004, Cruickshank was at the centre of a controversy when historian [Marc Morris](/source/Marc_Morris_(historian)) said that a documentary about [Harlech Castle](/source/Harlech_Castle) shown on BBC4 and billed as "written and presented by Dan Cruickshank" contained obvious borrowings from Morris's earlier [Channel 4](/source/Channel_4) series, ''Castle''. The BBC subsequently stated that Cruickshank was not responsible and that it was an error by researchers.[https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/may/28/broadcasting.bbc "Broadcaster gets apology from BBC as history repeats itself"], ''The Guardian'', 28 May 2004. Accessed 16 January 2014. In 2005, Cruickshank presented ''[Around the World in 80 Treasures](/source/Around_the_World_in_80_Treasures)'', charting his five-month trip around the world to visit eighty man-made artefacts or buildings that he had selected, in order to chart the history of mankind's [civilisation](/source/civilization). In 2006, Cruickshank presented ''[Marvels of the Modern Age](/source/Marvels_of_the_Modern_Age)'', a series focusing on the development of [modernism](/source/modernism) in [design](/source/design), from [Greek](/source/Greek_Architecture) and [Roman architecture](/source/Roman_architecture), to [Bauhaus](/source/Bauhaus) and the present. ''[Dan Cruickshank's Adventures in Architecture](/source/Dan_Cruickshank's_Adventures_in_Architecture)'', a 2008 series in which he travelled around the world visiting what he considered to be the world's most unusual and interesting buildings. In 2010, he embarked on a 3 part series on the history of the railways in Britain for [National Geographic](/source/National_Geographic_Channel) TV channel, including visits to [Chester](/source/Chester) to examine the events surrounding the [Dee bridge disaster](/source/Dee_bridge_disaster) of 1847, and [Manchester](/source/Manchester) for the [Liverpool and Manchester Railway](/source/Liverpool_and_Manchester_Railway) which opened in 1830. The series was entitled "Great Railway Adventures" and first appeared on UK television in the spring of 2010. In 2014, he appeared in ''[The Life of Rock with Brian Pern](/source/The_Life_of_Rock_with_Brian_Pern)'' as himself. ==Personal life== Cruickshank lives in a Georgian house in [Spitalfields](/source/Spitalfields), London, which he shares with his partner, the painter Marenka Gabeler, their two sons, and his daughter from a previous marriage.{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/nov/15/dan-cruickshank-historian-spitalfields-interiors | title=My Space: Dan Cruickshank, historian | access-date = 12 January 2010 | work=The Guardian | location=London | date=15 November 2009 | first=Alistair | last=Duncan}} The house was among those he featured when presenting the BBC television programme ''Ours to Keep – Incomers'' in 1985, when he discussed the role of the [Spitalfields Historic Buildings Trust](/source/Spitalfields_Historic_Buildings_Trust), a charity of which he was a co-founder in the 1970s. Cruickshank had previously lived in a Victorian house in Bloomsbury when he was a student in the 1970s.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/property-home/article/dan-cruickshank-reflects-on-his-student-flat-in-bloomsbury-wrqzl3px9n6|title=Dan Cruickshank reflects on his student flat in Bloomsbury|last1=Greenstreet|first1=Rosanna}} He has also resided in Essex.{{cite web |title=TV presenter and historian Dan Cruickshank fights to save historic bridge at Boxted |url=https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2021-12-31/tv-presenter-dan-cruickshank-joins-fight-to-save-handsome-historic-bridge |website=ITV.com |access-date=16 March 2025}} ==Filmography== *1985 ''Ours to Keep – Incomers'' guest presenter *1993 ''[One Foot in the Past](/source/One_Foot_in_the_Past)'' guest presenter *1997–2002 ''The House Detectives'' presenter *1997 ''[Travels with Pevsner](/source/Travels_with_Pevsner)'': ''Norfolk with Dan Cruickshank'' writer and presenter *2001 ''[Timewatch](/source/Timewatch)'' writer and presenter *2001 ''[Invasion](/source/Invasion_(British_TV_series))'' writer and presenter *2002 ''Omnibus'': ''Dan Cruickshank and the Lost Treasure of Kabul'' writer and presenter *2002 ''The Lost World of [Tyntesfield](/source/Tyntesfield)'' writer and presenter *2002 ''[Britain's Best Buildings](/source/Britain's_Best_Buildings)'' writer and presenter *2003 ''[Under Fire](/source/Under_Fire_(TV_series))'' writer and presenter *2003 ''[Towering Ambitions: Dan Cruickshank at Ground Zero](/source/Towering_Ambitions%3A_Dan_Cruickshank_at_Ground_Zero)'' writer and presenter *2003 ''[What the Industrial Revolution Did for Us](/source/What_the_Industrial_Revolution_Did_for_Us)'' writer and presenter *2005 ''[Around the World in 80 Treasures](/source/Around_the_World_in_80_Treasures)'' writer and presenter *2005 ''[The Lost World of Mitchell & Kenyon](/source/The_Lost_World_of_Mitchell_%26_Kenyon)'' presenter *2005 ''[Egyptian Journeys with Dan Cruickshank](/source/Egyptian_Journeys_with_Dan_Cruickshank)'' writer and presenter *2006 ''[The Lost World of Friese-Greene](/source/The_Lost_World_of_Friese-Greene)'' *2006 ''Betjeman & Me'' presenter *2006 ''[Marvels of the Modern Age](/source/Marvels_of_the_Modern_Age)'' writer and presenter *2006 ''[The Lost World of Tibet](/source/The_Lost_World_of_Tibet)'' presenter *2006 ''[Britain's Best Buildings](/source/Britain's_Best_Buildings)'' writer and presenter *2008 ''[Dan Cruickshank's Adventures in Architecture](/source/Dan_Cruickshank's_Adventures_in_Architecture)'' writer and presenter *2009 ''Cruickshank on Kew The Garden That Changed The World'' writer and presenter *2009 ''[The Art of Dying](/source/The_Art_of_Dying_(2009_film))'' writer and presenter{{Cite web|url=https://theartsdesk.com/tv/art-dying-bbc-four|title=The Art of Dying, BBC Four|date=30 September 2009}} *2010 ''Great Railway Adventures'' writer and presenter *2010 ''Britain's Park Story'' writer and presenter *2011 ''[The Country House Revealed](/source/The_Country_House_Revealed)'' writer and presenter *2012 ''Brick by Brick: Rebuilding Our Past'' presenter along with [Charlie Luxton](/source/Charlie_Luxton) *2012 ''The Bridges That Built London'' *2012 ''London: A Tale of Two Cities with Dan Cruickshank'' *2013 ''The Fairytale Castles of King Ludwig II with Dan Cruickshank'' writer and presenter *2014 ''[The Life of Rock with Brian Pern](/source/The_Life_of_Rock_with_Brian_Pern)'' as himself *2014 ''[Majesty and Mortar: Britain's Great Palaces](/source/Majesty_and_Mortar%3A_Britain's_Great_Palaces)'' writer and presenter *2014 ''Dan Cruickshank and the Family That Built Gothic Britain''{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04m3ljr|title=Dan Cruickshank and the Family That Built Gothic Britain – BBC Four|website=BBC}} *2015 ''Dan Cruickshank's Civilisation Under Attack''{{cite web|url=http://www.theartsdesk.com/tv/dan-cruickshanks-civilisation-under-attack-bbc-four|title=Dan Cruickshank's Civilisation Under Attack, BBC Four|website=www.theartsdesk.com|date=July 2015}} *2015 ''Dan Cruickshank: Resurrecting History – Warsaw''{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/dec/02/this-is-tottenham-dancruickshank-warsaw-toast-of-london|title=Wednesday's best TV: Dan Cruickshank: Resurrecting History – Warsaw|date=2 December 2015|work=The Guardian}} *2016 ''Dan Cruickshank: At Home with the British''{{cite web|url=https://www.hayfestival.com/p-10918-dan-cruickshank-at-home-with-the-british.aspx|title=Dan Cruickshank: At Home with the British|website=www.hayfestival.com|date=31 May 2016 }} *2018 ''The Road To Palmyra'' (with [Don McCullin](/source/Don_McCullin)){{cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2018-05-07/don-mccullin-war-photographer-syria-bbc4-the-road-to-palmyra/|title="When I think of IS, I detest them beyond imagination": war photographer Don McCullin heads to Syria for new BBC4 documentary|website=www.radiotimes.com}} *2018 ''Dan Cruickshank's Monuments of Remembrance''{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0brk994|title=Dan Cruickshank's Monuments of Remembrance|website=www.bbc.co.uk}} ==Bibliography== * {{cite book |date=1975 |title=London: the Art of Georgian Building | last1=Cruickshank |first1=Dan |first2=Peter |last2=Wyld |publisher=The Architectural Press }} * {{cite book |date=1975 |title=The Rape of Britain |last1=Cruickshank |first1=Dan |first2=Colin |last2=Amery |publisher=Elek (Paul) (Scientific Books) |isbn=978-0-236-31019-7 }} * {{cite book |date=1985 |title=National Trust and the Irish Georgian Society Guide to Georgian Buildings of Britain and Ireland |last=Cruickshank |first=Dan |publisher=Weidenfeld Nicolson Illustrated |isbn=978-0-297-78610-8 }} * {{cite book |date=1990 |title=Life in the Georgian City |last1=Cruickshank |first1=Dan |first2=Neil |last2=Burton |publisher=[Viking Press](/source/Viking_Press) |isbn=978-0-670-81266-0 }} * {{cite book |date=1993 |title=The Name of the Room: History of the British House and Home |last1=Cruickshank |first1=Dan |first2=Tony |last2=Rivers |first3=Gillian |last3=Darley |first4=Martin |last4=Pawley |publisher=[BBC Books](/source/BBC_Books) |isbn=978-0-563-36321-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/nameofroomhistor0000unse }} * {{cite book |date=1996 |title=[Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture](/source/A_History_of_Architecture) |edition=20th |editor-last=Cruickshank |editor-first=Dan |publisher=Architectural Press |isbn=978-0-7506-2267-7 }} * {{cite book |date=2000 |title=Architecture: The Critics' Choice |editor-last=Cruickshank |editor-first=Dan |publisher=Aurum Press Ltd |isbn=978-1-85410-720-6 }} * {{cite book |date=2001 |title=Invasion: Defending Britain from Attack |editor-last=Cruickshank |editor-first=Dan |publisher=[Boxtree Ltd.](/source/Macmillan_Publishers) |isbn=978-0-7522-2029-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/invasiondefendin0000crui }} * {{cite book |date=2002 |title=The Story of Britain's Best Buildings |last=Cruickshank |first=Dan |publisher=[BBC Books](/source/BBC_Books) |isbn=978-0-563-48823-1 }} * {{cite book |date=2003 |title=Under Fire |last1=Cruickshank |first1=Dan |first2=David |last2=Vincent |publisher=[BBC Books](/source/BBC_Books) |isbn=978-0-563-48768-5 }} * {{cite book |date=2004 |title=The Royal Hospital Chelsea: The Place and the People |last=Cruickshank |first=Dan |publisher=Third Millennium |isbn=978-1-903942-27-7 }} * {{cite book |date=2004 |title=Building the BBC: A Return to Form |last1=Cruickshank |first1=Dan |first2=Nicola |last2=Jackson |first3=Ricky |last3=Burdett |author3-link=Ricky Burdett |publisher=Wordsearch Communications |isbn=978-1-86000-221-2 }} * {{cite book |date=2005 |title=Brunel: The Man Who Built the World |last1=Cruickshank |first1=Dan |first2=Steven |last2=Brindle |publisher=[Weidenfeld & Nicolson](/source/Weidenfeld_%26_Nicolson) |isbn=978-0-297-84408-2 }} * {{cite book |date=2005 |title=Around the World in Eighty Treasures |last=Cruickshank |first=Dan |publisher=[Weidenfeld & Nicolson](/source/Weidenfeld_%26_Nicolson) |isbn=978-0-297-84399-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/aroundworldin80t00danc }} * {{cite book |date=2008 |title=Adventures in Architecture |last=Cruickshank |first=Dan |publisher=[Weidenfeld & Nicolson](/source/Weidenfeld_%26_Nicolson) |isbn=978-0-297-84444-0 }} * {{cite book |date=2009 |title=The Secret History of Georgian London: how the wages of sin shaped the capital |last=Cruickshank |first=Dan |publisher=[Random House](/source/Random_House) |isbn=978-1-84794-537-2 }} (Also released under the title ''London's Sinful Secret'' by St. Martin's Press in New York in the same year) * {{cite book |year=2011 |title=The Country House Revealed: A Secret History of the British Ancestral Home |last=Cruickshank |first=Dan |publisher=[BBC Books](/source/BBC_Books) |isbn=9781849902069 }} * {{cite book |year=2015 |title=A History of Architecture in 100 Buildings |last=Cruickshank |first=Dan |publisher=[William Collins](/source/William_Collins_(imprint)) |isbn=9780007575589 }} * {{cite book |year=2016 |title=Spitalfields : two thousand years of English history in one neighbourhood |last=Cruickshank |first=Dan |publisher=[Random House](/source/Random_House) |isbn=9781847947079 }} *{{cite book |year=2020 |title=Soho: A Street Guide to Soho's History, Architecture and People |last=Cruickshank |first=Dan |publisher=[Weidenfeld & Nicolson](/source/Weidenfeld_%26_Nicolson) |isbn=9781780224954}} *{{cite book |last1=Cruickshank |first1=Dan |title=Cruickshank's London: A Portrait of a City in 13 Walks |date=2021 |publisher=Random House |isbn=9781847948236 |pages=560 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4gyREAAAQBAJ&q=Cruickshank%27s+london}} ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * {{IMDb name|0189974}} * [https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/recent/iraq/iraq_after_the_war_01.shtml Cruickshank's comments on visiting Iraq, post-U.S. invasion (BBC)] * [https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/apr/23/heritage.architecture Cruickshank's article on visiting Jam minaret in Afghanistan (The Guardian)] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20040506034239/http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/bbb.shtml Britain's Best Buildings (BBC)] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20050205214732/http://www.open2.net/industrialrevolution/ What The Industrial Revolution Did For Us (Open University)] * [https://archive.today/20060423111514/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/openroad/ The Lost World of Friese-Greene on the BBC] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20050414214621/http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/11509-5/Author-Dan-Cruickshank.htm Dan Cruickshank Book List and Interview] * [http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article3853536.ece Dan Cruickshank reflects on his student flat in Bloomsbury]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruickshank, Dan}} Category:British art historians Category:British television presenters Category:Academics of the University of Sheffield Category:1949 births Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:British architectural historians Category:Architects from London Category:New Classical architects --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Dan Cruickshank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Cruickshank) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Cruickshank?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.