Spring Lecture Series 2026
Heroines and Heroes of the Arts and Crafts Movement
THESE TICKETS ARE FOR IN PERSON ONLY. FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO ATTEND ONLINE, PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK.
As a result of the pandemic, the Victorian Society’s two annual lecture series have since autumn 2020 taken place online, where they have drawn very large audiences. With the spring 2026 series, organised by Steven Brindle, Maya Donelan and Michael Hall, we are moving to a hybrid arrangement of in-person lectures that will be live-streamed as well as being available as recordings. The subject is one of perennial interest, the Arts and Crafts movement. Although it might be thought that there is little more to be learned about its leading practitioners, our speakers will be drawing on a large amount of new research, much of which is highlighting the often-neglected role played by women in a movement that remains of direct relevance to architects, artists and designers today.
TO BOOK THE COMPLETE SERIES, PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK.
Lectures will be about an hour long and take place at NYU London, 265 Strand, London WC2R 1BH.
Doors open at 6:15 pm and the lecture starts at 6:30 pm. Refreshments will be available after the lecture (not included in the ticket prices).
Tube: Charing Cross, Waterloo or Temple.
Each lecture is recorded and sent out within a week after the talk. This recording can be accessed at any time.
There is new pricing in place. The complete in-person series of 7 lectures for 6:
£11 for members/ £15 for non-members / £5.50 for Young Victorians
Spring Lecture: 3
From Surrey to New Delhi: Lutyens and the Arts & Crafts Movement by Clive Aslet
Wednesday 11 February, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Growing up in the Surrey village of Thursley, Sir Edwin Lutyens didn’t know it, but he was to follow in the footsteps of greats like John Ruskin, William Morris and Philip Webb in the tradition of British pride in craftsmanship that was to define the Arts and Crafts movement at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Home educated and sickly, a chance meeting with the cottage-loaf shaped figure of Gertrude Jekyll would turn this young architect into THE architect of the rich elite of Surrey, London and beyond. Their partnership and his talent for charming his clients would see Lutyens move in ever greater circles and culminated in large scale projects of New Delhi and Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral – outwardly classical, elements of these monoliths can be traced back to designs found at Folly Farm, Marsh Court and Castle Drogo.
Clive Aslet is an award-winning writer and Visiting Professor of Architecture at the University of Cambridge. In 2019, he founded Triglyph Books with the photographer Dylan Thomas. Clive has published more than thirty books on architecture and British culture, beginning with The Last Country Houses for Yale University Press in 1982. His most recent publications include Sir Edwin Lutyens: Britain’s Greatest Architect? (2024) and King Charles III: 40 Years of Architecture (2025). For many years Clive was Editor of the magazine Country Life. He is now on the board of the INTBAU, and was awarded the ‘Board of Directors Honor’ at the 2025 Arthur Ross Awards for Excellence in Classical Tradition for his contribution to the field of Classical architecture in literature. Married with three children, Clive lives in London and Ramsgate, England.
The Victorian Society is an IHBC recognised CPD provider.
Image: Goddards, Photo by Steve Cadman – https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevecadman/1093965338, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42911824