Watch our online lectures for just £5!
This page lists our future online lectures and the recordings of past lectures which are available to watch again. Both future and past events can be accessed for just £5 each. Access to a live event also allows you to watch the recording again at time which suits you.
Our upcoming lectures:
Arts and Crafts Churches
Arts & Crafts Churches. What are they? Where are they? And, come to that, why are they? Do they even exist? If so, how can you recognise them? What sets them apart? Why are they important? And why don’t we know about them? More to the point, why has there never been a book about them – before now?
Dr Alec Hamilton started researching the subject in 2005, first as a modest BA dissertation (5 churches), then as a doctoral thesis (35 churches) – and last month his book, Arts & Crafts Churches, was published by Lund Humphries (over 200 churches).
Between 1880, say, and 1920, why were people building churches at all, when believing in God was no longer obligatory, necessary or even the norm? And why did these churches look unlike those of the High Victorian Gothic Revival, yet not quite reach towards Modernism? What was ‘No-Longer-Victorian’ about them, and the idiosyncratic people who built them?
In this talk he introduces – briefly – the best-known: Holy Trinity, Sloane Street; All Saints, Brockhampton; St Andrew, Roker. Then he touches on ten of the less well-known. And, finally, examines 15 of the truly obscure, and the beautiful, often puzzling furnishings and decorations they contain. Your most pressing, nagging, sceptical and contrarian questions will be welcomed.
Tue, Oct 27, 2020 7:00 PM - Click here to book!
Missed a lecture? You can still purchase tickets to replays of past lectures here:
The New Vauxhall, Southwark and Lambeth Bridges
We are very excited to have historian and architect Benedict O'Looney discuss landmark collaborations between architects, engineers & town planners in the twilight of Beaux Arts London. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries eight of central London’s bridges were rebuilt to accommodate the expansion of traffic, movement, and commerce in Europe’s largest city. This talk tells the story of three of these new bridges built in the first decades of the 20th century. Pressure from the public & architectural community, and a determination not to be outdone by Paris ensured that three of Britain’s leading Edwardian architects, Richard Norman Shaw, Sir Ernest George and Sir Reginald Blomfield were commissioned to help design these structures. These new bridges combined the latest techniques of steel & reinforced concrete construction with architectural panache. They can be celebrated as some of the last achievements of the Beaux Arts improvements of the public realm in the Imperial Capital.
Click here to access the replay for £5!
Ernest Gimson: Arts & Crafts Designer and Architect
After training as an architect in Leicester and London, Ernest Gimson (1864–1919) left city life behind to make a different kind of career in the country. From his base in the Cotswolds, he practised two crafts himself and established workshops to make fine furniture, turned chairs and metalwork to his design. This talk will cover the range of his work, including his distinctive architectural projects and some little-known embroideries. Annette Carruthers is co-author with Mary Greensted and Barley Roscoe of a new book on Gimson published by Yale University Press in 2019: Ernest Gimson: Arts & Crafts Designer and Architect. She has worked as a museum curator with the Arts & Crafts collections in Leicester and Cheltenham and taught at the University of St Andrews until 2014.
Click here to access the replay for £5!
Not all Lutyens: another look at Victorian and Edwardian Surrey
The Surrey volume of the Buildings of England was published in 1962 and was the first of the guides for which Nikolaus Pevsner shared his duties for fieldwork and writing. Pevsner reserved the northern areas of the county for himself and handed over the rest to Ian Nairn, 'who as his text proves, is a born topographer'. This gave the Surrey a unique style and character among the first volumes. Bridget Cherry's second edition followed in 1971 but the first full-scale revision of the county is now underway, excluding much of the area originally covered by Pevsner which was absorbed into Greater London in 1965. In our next online talk, Charles O'Brien - editor of the Pevsner Architectural Guides, will reflect on Nairn's interests and enthusiasms and some of the idiosyncrasies of his opinions and writing, while also reminding us of the centrality of the county to the history of English architecture in the late Victorian and Edwardian period. Along with consideration of some of the best known buildings of the time, he will offer insights into some of the lesser known places and architects and some new discoveries.
Click here to access the replay for £5!
The Pub Unwrapped and the Golden Age of Pub-Building
We are excited to have architectural historian Geoff Brandwood taking us on a virtual exploration of our Victorian pubs in our online lecture on Wednesday 9th September. Geoff will be taking a look at one of our great British institutions and their historic fabrics. From small country pubs and old inns, he will show how the pub as we know it was essentially a Victorian creation with a truly magnificent flowering in the closing years of the nineteenth century. Geoff has co-authored and edited a number of books on pubs, as well has being heavily involved with the Victorian Society for many years. He has played a key role in the Campaign for Real Ale's fight to preserve historic pub interiors.
Click here to access the replay for £5!
A Passion for Pattern: Victorian Wallpapers
Joanna Banham has over 25-years of experience in the arts, having worked for many renowned organisations such as Tate Britain, The Royal Academy and the V&A. The Victorian period witnessed massive changes in the manufacture and consumption of wallpaper: a product that had previously been a luxury item became available to all but the very poorest of homes. It also saw a huge proliferation of different styles that included glamorous French-inspired florals, severe geometric Gothic designs, trompe l’ceil architectural, mosaic, and stone effects, and the innovative work of Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement. Joanna will discuss features such as nursery designs, relief decorations, arsenical pigments, and explore the many different ways that wallpaper was used in the decoration of the Victorian home.
Click here to access the replay for £5.00
The Edwardians and their Houses
Timothy Brittain-Catlin is well known for his writings and work on A.W.N. Pugin and the domestic architecture of early Victorian Britain. This lecture is based on his recent book, The Edwardians and their Houses: The New Life of Old England. Edwardian domestic architecture was beautiful and varied in style and the book provides a radical overview of the subject that show how this period offered innovative new building types for weekends, sport and suburban living and what that reveals about Edwardian attitudes to old architecture, health and science. He discusses how when it comes to Edwardian architecture, there is still much to discover. Even very small buildings reflect contemporary preoccupations and, in particular, the land reform ideas of the ruling Liberal Party.
Click here to access the replay for £5.00
Queen Victoria's Railways
Queen Victoria made her first railway journey, from Slough to Paddington, in June 1842. She pronounced herself 'quite charmed' with the experience, and was a regular railway user for the rest of her life. This illustrated virtual lecture will be led by celebrated author and historian Dr Steven Brindle - who will take you on an in-depth exploration of Queen Victoria's use of the railways. Steven will discuss how Queen Victoria got to and from Windsor, Osborne and Balmoral, he will explore some of the special stations, waiting rooms and trains that were built for her, and her longer continental rail journeys, with a look at the special arrangements made for this unique passenger.
Click here to access the replay for £5.00
Victorian Society events are publicised to members below and in the 'Blue Sheet' with our mailings in February, June and October. Some require booking, others you can just turn up on the day.
For events organised by our regional groups, please see the regional group pages:
Birmingham & West Midlands; Leicester; Liverpool; Manchester; West Yorkshire; South Yorkshire and Wales.
We're always looking for volunteers to put on events for us. Please contact our Events Administrator for more information.