The Victorian
The Victorian is published three times a year, and is sent to all members of the Society free of charge. As well as the feature articles listed below, the magazine contains book reviews, Society news and events, casework reports, and interviews.
See which books have been reviewed, and buy them!
Edward Burne-Jones: Master of Victorian decorative arts
No. 38 November 2011
Prompted by the publication of Fiona MacCarthy's highly-acclaimed new biography, we immerse ourselves in the life of one of the most important painters of the nineteenth century: Edward Burne-Jones (1833-98).
George Gilbert Scott bicentenary
No. 37 July 2011
This issue we celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-78), the most successful architect of his day and the most prominent architect of the nineteenth century in Britain.
Who do you think you were? The census issue
No. 36 March 2011 [Sold out]
Census day is 27 March 2011. We celebrate the twenty-first modern census by looking at what use those interested in Victorian and Edwardian buildings might make of the information it contains. While aggregate data is immediately useful for public administration, it is the detailed records only made public one hundred years later that are of most use to those interested in geneaolgy and individual buildings.
Turn right for Hull
No. 35 November 2010 [Sold out]
As we commemorate 70 years since the Blitz, it is remarkable that Hull has been largely absent from the press coverage. Apart from London, Hull was the most heavily bombed city in Britain, so it would not seem a fruitful hunting ground for Victorian buildings, but it is surprising what has survived. Hull has a remarkably rich architectural heritage, with many good Victorian and Edwardian buildings.
Down on the farm: The rural buildings issue
No. 34 July 2010
Changing patterns of agriculture place our traditional farm buildings increasingly under threat. Yet farms are an important part of the intrinsic character and beauty of our countryside as well as being often interesting architecturally in themselves. They also can be economically valuable, in that many have great potential for alternative uses.
Home, sustainable home
No. 33 March 2010
Large scale demolition has been suggested as one way of meeting the targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But the Energy Savings Trust estimates that four-fifths of the houses that will be standing in 2050 have already been built. So the challenge is what to do with our existing houses, one in five of which was built before 1919. This issue of the Victorian does not come up with any definitive answers but shows what has been done.
Victorian architectural ceramics
No. 32 November 2009 [Sold out]
In this issue of the Victorian we celebrate the completion of the first phase of the new ceramics galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The museum was from the start an architectural showcase for ceramic art, both celebrating and stimulating the achievements of that industry. Other articles on the theme of architectural ceramics examine the manufacture and repair of terracotta, as well as the care of tiles in the home.
The Black Country Saga
No. 31 July 2009
This issue of the Victorian looks at the West Midlands, and Cradley Heath in particular, best known by speedway enthusiasts as the home of the Cradley Heath Heathens. But their track, like much else in Cradley Heath, has been lost for redevelopment. The toll of destruction is truly depressing.
Victorian parks: Is the grass greener?
No. 30 March 2009 [Sold out]
Despite the credit crunch, at least Britain's Victorian municipal parks are still free for all to enjoy. Thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund, many have been rescued from a spiral of decline. As the articles in this issue show, they have been transformed from run-down magnets for antisocial behaviour into elegant places of retreat for everyone. But we need to remind local authorities of the need to look after them.
Colour in Victorian Britain
No. 29 November 2008
'The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love colour the most', wrote John Ruskin in The Stones of Venice.
Northern grit: Leeds and West Yorkshire
No. 28 July 2008
Alan Bennett has written that he felt growing up in Leeds in the 1940s can't have been unlike growing up in a fifteenth-century Italian city state. There was a powerful sense of belonging to the city, constantly reinforced by the omnipresence of the City's coat of arms, but there was an even stronger sense of place created by the distinctiveness of the city's mercantile and civic architecture. Leeds would have been, he wrote, 'one of the architectural showplaces of the kingdom, a Victorian Genoa or Florence', had it not fallen victim to the 'greed and mediocrity' of the 1960s. As we look forward to our 50th Anniversary AGM weekend in Leeds, in this issue we look at what's going on in the North West.
50th anniversary issue: Saving a century
No. 27 March 2008
This issue, as we celebrate 50 years since the first meeting of the Society on 25 February 1958 in the drawing room at Linley Sambourne House, we can be forgiven for being a little introspective. It's curious how opinions about Victorian architecture have changed. Now, cab drivers and corporate leaders alike will unhesitatingly tell you how beautiful they find St Pancras Station whereas even ten years ago admiration was accorded only grudgingly if at all.
Redundant churches: who cares?
No. 26 November 2007
Invariably, it seems, churches become redundant. The country changes around them and for one reason or another they find themselves bereft of the worshippers needed to keep them going. Many, if not most, of the buildings seem eventually to find new uses, but it is not easy to generalise about how often these uses preserve their architectural and historic interest. A significant minority are demolished.
Campaigning special
No. 25 July 2007
As well as the ongoing work of commenting on applications for listed building consent, from time to time the Victorian Society runs campaigns to get a bit more public attention for buildings that really need it. This issue covers our 'Heritage Crime Scene' demonstration at Waltham Forest Town Hall to protest about the cuts to the William Morris Gallery, as well as some of the more high profile cases we've been dealing with recently.
Beside the seaside: Reasons to be cheerful?
No. 23 November 2006 [Sold out]
There is a certain amount of head-scratching going on at present about the future of coastal towns. The ODPM Committee has been busy gathering evidence, and one volume has already been published. How will they assess the value of the Victorian legacy? It will be interesting to see.
Victorian swimming pools: Going down the drain?
No. 22 July 2006
Public swimming pools are a threatened species. By the Government's own estimate, swimming pools owned by local authorities need maintenance costing something like £500 million. Local authorities' preferred method of dealing with this problem is to close them. The London Pools Campaign tells us that, every year, one London swimming pool closes and is not replaced. It seems odd that, in the lead up to the Olympics, local swimming pool provision is shrinking.
The Victorian terrace: An endangered species again?
No. 21 March 2006
Victorian terraced houses have been in the news a lot over the past year. The government is convinced that demolishing them is the solution to the 'housing problem' which affects some areas in the North of England: low demand and consequently low prices. It is typical of our times that the programme is called the 'Housing Market Renewal Initiative', as Stefan Muthesius points out in his article, which considers the state of the Victorian terrace today. The 1960s might at least have preferred 'Housing Renewal'. It also goes by the name of 'Pathfinder', a meaningless moniker chosen to give a positive gloss.
