Visit: Palace of Westminster
Join us on a crisp winter morning as we discover one of London's best known buildings.
Online Lecture: Street Closure: A Discussion about Recent Visits to Buildings by G E Street
Join Neil Jackson as he examines the themes that have been raised from these visits.
Victorian Short Story Reading Group: ‘The Dead Witness’ or ‘The Bush Waterhole’ by Mary Fortune
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 Australia.
Visit: An 1890s House in Clapham
This is a rare opportunity to see the colourful and atmospheric candlelit interiors of this house in Clapham.
Victorian Short Story Reading Group: ‘The Ghost upon the Rail’ by John Lang
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 Australia.
Walk: Westminster by Gaslight Walk, led by Elan Walks
Discover the magical gas lamps of Westminster and marvel at their fascinating history and world-changing legacy.
Talk: More Wallpaper, Vicar? A Talk by Rowena Beighton-Dykes
Rowena will explore the socio-economic and political context of wallpaper purchases by members of the Anglican Church in the 19th century.
Walk: Peter de Figueiredo: A walking tour of Liverpool’s Mercantile Architecture
The walking tour will explore how Liverpool became a great commercial city as well as an international port, and how the redevelopment of the city centre in the 19th and early 20th centuries reflects its commercial importance.
Victorian Short Story Reading Group: ‘The Dâk Bungalow at Dakor’ by B. M. Croker
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, starting with stories from India.
Talk: Day School on Gas, Water and Sewage
How the Victorians improved life for people in the West Midlands
Talk: The History of the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, by Christina Clarke
Discover the stories of one of Liverpool's most famous art collections in this in-person talk given by Christina Clarke.
Visit: St Mary’s at West Tofts
A unique opportunity to visit a small medieval church transformed by A W Pugin and his son in the 1840s and 1850s.
Walk: A Day Visit to Three Stourbridge Churches – SOLD OUT
Following the Group’s walking tour in June, we have now arranged access to three significant churches in the town centre: St John the Evangelist, St Thomas & Our Lady & All Saints RC church.
Talk: Lost Gardens of London, by Todd Longstaffe-Gowan
This talk will focus on and celebrate the evanescence of the metropolis’s vast and varied garden legacy.
AGM Weekend in Bradford
The Victorian Society AGM 2024 which will be in Bradford, West Yorkshire, on Friday 4 October, followed by a weekend of architectural tours in Bradford and the surrounding area.
Walk: Exploring Brixton’s Victorian History
In this walking tour, led by the Brixton Society, we will explore the fascinating retail heritage of Brixton.
Talk: The Monk Sisters at St James the Less: Women and Architectural Patronage in Victorian Britain, by Alex Bremner
In this talk, Professor Alex Bremner will explore the role of Jane Emily and Penelope Anna Monk in the commissioning of St James the Less, Pimlico, and what, if any, impact their vision for the church had on G. E. Street's design.
Walk: Merton Park, “The Original and Most Unique Garden Suburb”, led by Tony Woolfenden
Tony Woolfenden leads a walk around John Innes' Merton Park estate, "the original and most unique garden suburb" (to quote the estate company's advertisements).
Walk: Exploring Victorian Clapham, led by Christopher Claxton Stevens
Clapham became part of the Metropolis with the coming of the underground in 1900. This walk will cover the earlier background of the area and focus on the grander Victorian architecture that still remains
Visit: Street’s Church, Holmbury St Mary – G E Street Bicentenary
This visit is to the church which G E Street built in in 1878-79 as a memorial to his second wife, Jessie, who died soon after their honeymoon in 1876. It is very much a personal statement which he paid for himself.
Visit: All Saints’ church, Putney Common – G E Street Bicentenary
All Saints’ church, Putney, was opened as a chapel of ease in 1874. The interior is richly polychromatic and the many Morris & Co windows are of outstanding quality. This visit is our final look at a church by G E Street.
Visit: RIBA Drawings Collection at the V&A
The visit will start with an introductory talk on the history of the RIBA Drawings Collection by curator, Charles Hind followed by a look at a selection of Victorian drawings from the collection, including several by Alfred Waterhouse for the Natural History Museum. We will move across to the Museum to look at the exterior and the Great Hall.
Walk: Liverpool Street Station and its Environs, led by Steven Brindle
This walk explores Liverpool Street Station and its environs, to see how the north-eastern City developed in the Victorian age, how the historic streetscape has fared in modern times, and what impact the proposed over-development of the station, which the Society strongly opposes, would have on this many layered and sensitive area.
Talk: Sheffield in 1903 – A History Tour of Central Sheffield through 120 Old Photographs with Martin Naylor
Talk: Scattered Homes by Sheffield Hospitals History Group
Mary Garside of Sheffield Hospitals History Group looks at why children were in the workhouse and what other options were available for those in need of care.
Visit: Day Trip to Stourbridge
This walking tour of Stourbridge will be led by Andy Foster and David Low and will highlight some of the town’s significant Victorian buildings.
Victorian Short Story Reading Group: ‘The Salt Inspector’ (Namak ka Daroga) by Munshi Premchand
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, starting with stories from India.
Victorian Short Story Reading Group: ‘The Postmaster’ by Rabindranath Tagore
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, starting with stories from India.
Visit: ‘The Cathedral of Sewage’ – Crossness Pumping Station
Discover one of London's most extraordinary interiors in this outing where we discover the Victorian's solution to sewage.
George Edmund Street Bicentenary Symposium – Day 2
G E Street (1824-1881), the bicentenary of whose birth we celebrate this year, was one of the most prolific architects of the nineteenth-century gothic revival. This symposium at St James the Less, celebrates Street's work and achievements through a programme of talks in the morning, and visits to his works in the afternoon.
George Edmund Street Bicentenary Symposium – Day 1
G E Street (1824-1881), the bicentenary of whose birth we celebrate this year, was one of the most prolific architects of the nineteenth-century gothic revival. This symposium at St James the Less, celebrates Street's work and achievements through a programme of talks in the morning, and visits to his works in the afternoon.
Weekend Visit to G E Street’s Churches in East Yorkshire
Join members of the Victorian Society as we examine the churches commissioned by Sir Tatton Sykes II of Sledmere House, and others in the East Yorkshire area. Travelling by minibus, the weekend will include a visit to St Mary, Thixendale & vicarage (1870 & 1870), St Mary, Wansford (1868) and St Andrew, East Heslerton & vicarage (1877 & 1876).
Victorian Short Story Reading Group: ‘The Pestilence at Noonday’ by Cornelia Sorabji
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, starting with stories from India.
Visit: Hampton Court in the 19th Century
Hampton Court Palace is renowned as the finest surviving Tudor palace in the world. The history of the Palace in the Victorian era is often overlooked, but is equally as fascinating.
Visit: Golders Green Crematorium, led by Hilary Grainger
A unique opportunity to visit Golders Green crematorium described as ‘London’s first crematorium and England’s first purpose-designed crematorium landscape,’ (Grade II listed) designed by Sir Ernest George in 1902. Professor Hilary J Grainger, Chair of the Victorian Society. She is the leading authority on Sir Ernest George and the architecture of UK crematoria.
Visit: St John’s Church, Ranmoor, led by Mary Grover
A talk by Mary Grover about the History of the first St John’s Church in Ranmoor followed by a guided tour.
An Exploration of Surrey led by Charles O’Brien
This story involves the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857 but is told at a jovial gathering from the perspective of an adventure, with no mention of the politics or problems which led to the troubles.
West Norwood Cemetery
This story involves the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857 but is told at a jovial gathering from the perspective of an adventure, with no mention of the politics or problems which led to the troubles.
Gwrych Castle visit
Come and enjoy a guided walk around Gwrych Castle and meet the The Victorian Society's Welsh group.
Visit: Coach Trip to Shropshire
A coach visit to Shropshire, taking in St Mary's Church, Tenbury Wells; St John the Baptist at Stokesay Castle and Stokesay Court, near Craven Arms, described by Niklaus Pevsner as ‘the most grandiloquent Victorian mansion in the County'.
Members’ Afternoon
Members and their guests are invited to bring a maximum of 6 images on a memory stick to explain and share.
Visit: Great Malvern & Malvern College
A guided tour of Great Malvern Railway Station by Peter Clement from Malvern Civic Society; then a guided walk of Great Malvern by our Chairman, Stephen Hartland; lunch at the Mount Pleasant Hotel; then a tour of Malvern College by our Honorary Treasurer, James Fletcher, who works at the college. Malvern College was founded in 1865 and is regarded as one of England’s premier independent schools. The tour of the campus includes the main College (1865), Chapel (1899), Pavilion (1894), Music School (1862), St Edmund’s Hall (1905) and others. We will finish with refreshments in the Memorial Library (1924).
A guided tour of the graveyard of All Saints, Childwall, by Diana Goodier
The tour will highlight some of the most interesting burials from the Victorian period - the shipping magnates, local politicians, founding members of the university and a couple of architects.
50 Years of the Liverpool Group of the The Victorian Society
Roger Hull has been an active committee member of the Liverpool Group of the The Victorian Society for many years and will tell the fascinating story of the group since its foundation in 1974.
Ilkley, from village Spa to Victorian resort – a walk with Alex Cockshott
Ilkley started as a village with fresh air and pure cold water. It had an increasing number of visitors in the Victorian era. With the arrival of the railway station in 1865, and the Middleton family starting land sales against a planned grid, the village expanded. We shall look at how the town centre developed, including the Grove.
Exploring Oldham’s heritage as the “cotton-spinning capital of the world.
This magnificent Victorian town park was built by the people of Oldham during the cotton famine, sparked by the American Civil war. Now registered Grade II* it opened in 1865 and we will see its restored features, listed monuments and structures and well-maintained planting.
Exploring Oldham’s heritage as the “cotton-spinning capital” of the world.
This magnificent Victorian town park was built by the people of Oldham during the cotton famine, sparked by the American Civil war. Now registered Grade II* it opened in 1865 and we will see its restored features, listed monuments and structures and well-maintained planting.
Manchester’s theatre district – a walk with David Astbury
Back by popular demand! David Astbury (former Vic Soc Manchester Chair) will lead a repeat walk on the Theatres of Oxford Street and Peter Street, a walk of about two hours passing through what was once the heart of Manchester’s historic theatre district.
Victorian Short Story Reading Group: ‘The Pipe of Mystery’ by G.A. Henty
This story involves the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857 but is told at a jovial gathering from the perspective of an adventure, with no mention of the politics or problems which led to the troubles.
Victorian Short Story Reading Group: ‘The Rise of Ram Din’ by Alice Perrin.
This story provides an insight into the life of Indian servants, which is told through the voice of the Indian servant, rather than his Western master. There are many thematic contradictions such as loyalty/disloyalty; power struggle/duty; revenge and manipulation/honest labour.
From Palaces of Art to the Studios of Bohemia: Artists’ Houses in Victorian Kensington and Chelsea, by Jo Banham
Successful Victorian artists, like Leighton and Luke Fildes, earned incomes that meant they were able to commission magnificent, purpose-built studio houses in the leafy suburbs of Holland Park and Kensington. The less wealthy and more unconventional, like Rossetti and Whistler, gravitated towards Chelsea, occupying picturesque old buildings in the area. This lecture reviews the two most famous artists’ colonies - Melbury Road, Kensington and Cheyne Walk and Tite Street, Chelsea - and explores the lives and interiors of the painters who lived there.