Events
The Victorian Society runs a diverse programme of events including visits, walks, online talks and weekends away. These are publicised to members below and in the ‘Blue Sheet’ which is mailed with our membership magazine, ‘The Victorian’, in February, June and October. Members receive priority booking.
The Victorian Society is an CPD provider recognised by The Institute of Historic Building Conservation. Our recorded online talks can be found in our shop here. This is a fantastic opportunity to discover over 80 lectures on Victorian and Edwardian architecture, architects, and related themes including railways.
Filter by:
October
Autumn Online Talks 2026 Including One In Person Lecture: New Bearings in Victorian Architecture: 7 talks for 6
Our autumn lecture series celebrates the publication of the most ambitious overview of Victorian architecture in a generation.
More informationVisit: A Tour of The Hippodrome Casino and The Criterion Theatre, London
Explore the history of these two theatrical sites in the heart of London’s West End.
More informationAutumn Online Talks 2026: New Bearings in Victorian Architecture: 7 talks for 6
Our autumn lecture series celebrates the publication of the most ambitious overview of Victorian architecture in a generation.
More informationAutumn Lecture Series 2026 1: New Bearings in Victorian Architecture: Michael Hall Interviews Prof. Alex Bremner – In-Person
The series begins with Michael Hall interviewing Professor G.A. Bremner about the ideas that underpin his book: ‘Victorian Architecture’.
More informationAutumn Online Lecture Series 2026 1: New Bearings in Victorian Architecture: Michael Hall Interviews Prof. Alex Bremner
The series begins with Michael Hall interviewing Professor G.A. Bremner about the ideas that underpin his book: ‘Victorian Architecture’.
More informationWalk: Wakefield – Waterfront and Mills
We will explore how the mills close to the Hepworth Museum in Wakefield are undergoing major regeneration, then continue an exploration of Victorian and heritage sites as we walk into the city.
More informationTalk: A Gothic Evening with the Victorian Society
Join the Victorian Society and friends for a ghoulish evening celebrating the architecture, literature and art of the Gothic.
More informationNovember
Talk: How the Victorians Shaped our Rivers with Don Catchment Rivers Trust and Rachel Walker
From technological advances and transportation efficiencies, to the introduction of species and schemes, this talk presents how our rivers were shaped by the Victorian industrial revolution.
More informationAutumn Online Lecture Series 2026 2: Rethinking Euston Arch: Fossil Fuels, Architecture & History
This talk looks at questions that arise when we consider the history of Victorian architecture through the lens of fossil fuel.
More informationDay School: Victorian and Edwardian Justice, Crime and Punishment in the West Midlands
The day will explore crime, policing, punishment and justice across the region, with talks on Birmingham’s first coroner, rogues and villains including the Peaky Blinders, crime and punishment in the Black Country, Victorian prison labour, and the conservation and modernisation of Birmingham’s magnificent Grade I listed Victoria Law Courts.
More informationAutumn Online Lecture Series 2026 3: The Englishness of English Churches in Europe by James Bettley
By 1914 there were nearly 300 Anglican churches across mainland Europe, the
majority built since 1815. This talk looks at these buildings.
The Victorian Society presents the Lunch Hour series: a talk on Liverpool Docks: refurbishment and historic importance
A talk by Kate Martin of Donald Insall Associates and the Manchester Group, and Simon Smith of AKT covering historic importance and recent developments in Liverpool’s docklands.
More informationVictorian Short Story Reading Group: ‘The Revenge of her Race’, by Mary Beaumont
The Victorian Short Story Reading Group has regular meetings to explore some of the exciting material from the golden age of the British short story, which began during the latter part of the nineteenth century. The current theme is colonial short stories, with stories from New Zealand
More informationTalk: Solomon J Solomon’s Samson: a Jewish masterpiece in the Walker Art Gallery
An unmissable painting in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, Solomon J Solomon’s Samson created a sensation when first exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1887, marking out its artist as a rising star.
More informationAutumn Online Lecture Series 2026 4: Women and the Re-making of Edinburgh’s Old Town in the late Victorian Era
This talk explores the way that women of all classes sought to re-make the urban environment in Edinburgh’s Old Town.
More informationAutumn Online Lecture Series 2026 5: Imperial Logistics: Victorian Architecture and Infrastructure
The lecture considers how buildings formed part of the material systems through which imperial and commercial expansion operated.
More informationDecember
Autumn Online Lecture Series 2026 6: The Crimea Memorial Church in Constantinople from Competition to Completion, by Neil Jackson
This lecture follows the course of the design’s retrogression from a large, richly ornate vision to an English parish church.
More informationTalk: Lead Poisoning Related to the Water Supply in Sheffield 1885-1890 with Mike Collins
In this talk, Mike Collins will explore the roles played by the MOH, the Corporation, the Water Board, the local newspapers and national medical press. This will conclude with a description of the parallels between the Sheffield experience and the lead poisoning controversy in Flint, Michigan in 2014 and ask the question: “could this happen again?”
More informationVictorian Short Story Reading Group: ‘The Disappearance of Lethan Crouch’ by Chas Owen
The Victorian Short Story Reading Group has regular meetings to explore some of the exciting material from the golden age of the British short story, which began during the latter part of the nineteenth century. The current theme is colonial short stories, with stories from New Zealand
More informationAutumn Online Lecture Series 2026 7: Marble in the Making: From Quarry to Building in Victorian Ireland
This talk will discuss the use of native marble in buildings in Victorian Ireland.
More informationFebruary
Talk: From Balloons to Bleriots: Aviation and Sheffield 1823- 1914
This talk will examine how Victorian Sheffielders reacted to the novelty of man being able to fly.
More informationMarch
Talk: Building Stories with Robin Hughes of Hallamshire Historic Buildings
Buildings are worth saving because they are great storytellers, but teasing out those tales can unexpectedly become an Odyssey in itself. Join Robin Hughes of Hallamshire Historic Buildings on his quest as he visits a pub with no beer, hears heavenly voices in a churchyard, seeks missionaries and moneymen in Mayfield and spins a yarn about a cotton mill in Kelham.
More informationApril
Talk: Mills Transformed with Neil Horsley
This talk describes the Mills Transformed project that document textile mill buildings which have been restored and repurposed.
More information