G E Street St James the Less, Pimlico, 1861 © Neil Jackson

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.

November

Online Lecture: ‘Fair and Beautiful to Behold’ – Ecclesiastical Embroideries, by Mary Schoeser

This lecture discusses the neo-Gothic in relation to textiles and wallpapers, which focuses on ecclesiastical embroideries in particular. The title, Fair and Beautiful to Behold is after a quotation from G.E. Street. The lecture spills into the Edwardian period to include a Pankhurst banner and Ann Macbeth frontal, to bring out the double meaning of ‘fair’ (in social/political terms).

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Ticket Price: £6
Date: Tuesday, November 12th, 2024
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Venue: Online
Location: Autumn Online Lecture Series 2024 | Online
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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.

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Ticket Price: £6
Date: Wednesday, November 13th, 2024
Time: 7:00 pm– 8:30 pm
Venue: Priory Gardens, London W4 1TT – View on map
Location: In Person | London
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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.

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Ticket Price: £26
Date: Thursday, November 14th, 2024
Time: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Venue: Green Park Underground Station – View on map
Location: Walk | London | In Person
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Ticket Price: £10. Booking not essential
Date: Sunday, November 17th, 2024
Time: 2pm for 2.15pm
Venue: Stretford Public Hall Chester Road, Manchester, M32 0LG – View on map
Location: In Person

Online Lecture: Owen Jones and the V&A, by Olivia Horsfall Turner

This talk will examine each of the projects that linked Victorian designer Owen Jones and the early V&A: his famous illustrated publication The Grammar of Ornament (1856), his decorative scheme for the so-called ‘Oriental Court’, and his relatively little-known book Examples of Chinese Ornament (1867).

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Ticket Price: £6
Date: Wednesday, November 20th, 2024
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Venue: Online
Location: Autumn Online Lecture Series 2024 | Online
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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.

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Ticket Price: £5
Date: Saturday, November 23rd, 2024
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:45 pm
Venue: The Quaker Meeting House, 22 School Lane Liverpool L1 3BT – View on map
Location: In Person | Liverpool
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Online Lecture: The Mosaics of Westminster Cathedral, by Peter Howell

This talk will examine the decorative interior of Westminster Cathedral, particularly the mosaics. J F Bentley intended that the interior should be covered in marble revetment and mosaics but he never had any mosaics installed. However, he approved the designs for the Holy Souls Chapel by his friend William Christian Symons.

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Ticket Price: £6
Date: Tuesday, November 26th, 2024
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Venue: Online
Location: Autumn Online Lecture Series 2024 | Online
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Ticket Price: £26 or £15 for members of BMAG, Art Fund or holders of the Birmingham Museums Card
Date: Wednesday, November 27th, 2024
Time: 10.45 am and 11.45 am start – two sessions
Venue: Gas Hall, Birmingham & Museum & Art Gallery, Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, B3 3DH – View on map
Location: In Person | Birmingham & West Midlands
Book on Eventbrite

December

Online Lecture: Innovations in the Art and Craft of Stained Glass in the 19th Century

The quest for materials that would evoke the chromatic and textural qualities of early medieval stained glass inspired the work of manufacturers, artists and architects during the Victorian era. This illustrated lecture examines how the art form evolved alongside new technical developments.

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Ticket Price: £6
Date: Tuesday, December 3rd, 2024
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Venue: Online
Location: Autumn Online Lecture Series 2024 | Online
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Ticket Price: £5
Date: Tuesday, December 3rd, 2024
Time: 7:00 pm
Venue: Showroom 5, Paternoster Row, Sheffield City Centre, Sheffield S1 2BX – View on map
Location: Talk | South Yorkshire | In Person
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Visit: Palace of Westminster

Join us on a crisp winter morning as we discover one of London’s best known buildings.

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Ticket Price: £30
Date: Tuesday, December 3rd, 2024
Time: 8:45 am – 10:30 am
Venue: Palace of Westminster – View on map
Location: London | Visit | In Person
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Ticket Price: £50 per person Booking forms available from [email protected] or [email protected]. Closing date for bookings: Friday 15 November.
Date: Saturday, December 7th, 2024
Time: 11am arrival; 11.30am walk round Werneth Park (optional); 12.15pm talk; 1pm lunch
Venue: Werneth Grange, Grange Avenue (off Manchester Road), Oldham, OL8 4EL. – View on map
Location: In Person

Online Lecture: Alfred Stevens: Master of Design, 1817-1875, by Teresa Sladen

When Alfred Stevens was waiting to hear who would finally be given the commission to design the Wellington Monument he said “They must give it to me. No one else knows anything about ornament”. What he meant by this is the subject of this lecture.

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Ticket Price: £6
Date: Tuesday, December 10th, 2024
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Venue: Online
Location: Autumn Online Lecture Series 2024 | Online
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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.

More information
Ticket Price: £6
Date: Wednesday, December 11th, 2024
Time: 7:00 pm– 8:30 pm
Venue: Priory Gardens, London W4 1TT – View on map
Location: London | In Person
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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.

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Ticket Price: £6/£10
Date: Tuesday, December 17th, 2024
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Venue: Online or Head Office at Priory Gardens, London – View on map
Location: G E Street Bicentenary 2024 | London | Online | In Person
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January

Online Lecture: Victorian Colonial Short Stories 2: Dominions, Colonies & Protectorates

This lecture will survey short stories of colonial voyagers, squatters and settlers in Africa, Australia, British Malaya, Canada and New Zealand.

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Ticket Price: £6
Date: Tuesday, January 7th, 2025
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Venue: Online
Location: Online
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Online Lecture: London’s Lost Victorian Interiors, by Steven Brindle

Steven Brindle takes us through the wealth of Victorian interior design, most of which is long vanished.

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Ticket Price: £6
Date: Tuesday, January 14th, 2025
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Venue: Online
Location: Online
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Visit: An 1890s House in Clapham

This is a rare opportunity to see the colourful and atmospheric candlelit interiors of this house in Clapham.

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Ticket Price: £20
Date: Thursday, January 16th, 2025
Time: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Venue: Address available closer to the date. – View on map
Location: Visit | London | In Person
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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.

More information
Ticket Price: £6
Date: Wednesday, January 22nd, 2025
Time: 7:00 pm– 8:30 pm
Venue: Priory Gardens, London W4 1TT – View on map
Location: London | In Person
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Winter Online Lecture Series 2025: Victorian and Edwardian Women in Architecture – 7 talks for 6

The Winter Lecture Series 2025 explores Victorian and Edwardian’s women’s connections with architecture.

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Ticket Price: £36
Date: Wednesday, January 29th, 2025
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Venue: Online
Location: Winter Online Lecture Series 2025 | Online
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Online Lecture: Victorian and Edwardian Women in Architecture, by Lynne Walker

Lynne Walker introduces a series of lectures that will extend our knowledge of women in architecture and the Victorian period.

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Ticket Price: £6
Date: Wednesday, January 29th, 2025
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Venue: Online
Location: Winter Online Lecture Series 2025 | Online
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Visit: Old Bailey

Discover the architecture of the Old Bailey.

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Ticket Price: £30
Date: Thursday, January 30th, 2025
Time: 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Venue: Old Bailey – View on map
Location: London | Visit | In Person
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February

Online Lecture: Rhoda and Agnes Garrett, ‘House Decorators’: the History of a Business, 1874–1905 by Elizabeth Crawford

Elizabeth Crawford discusses the first women to run a professional interior design business.

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Ticket Price: £6
Date: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Venue: Online
Location: Winter Online Lecture Series 2025 | Online
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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.

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Ticket Price: £5
Date: Tuesday, February 11th, 2025
Time: 7:00 pm
Venue: Showroom 5, Paternoster Row, Sheffield City Centre, Sheffield S1 2BX – View on map
Location: Talk | South Yorkshire | In Person
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Online Lecture: A W N Pugin and Women by Rosemary Hill

Pugin’s biographer explores the role women played in both Pugin’s personal and professional life

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Ticket Price: £6
Date: Wednesday, February 12th, 2025
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Venue: Online
Location: Winter Online Lecture Series 2025 | Online
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Online Lecture: Victorian Chatelaine: Emily Meynell Ingram of Temple Newsam, by James Lomax

The lecture will explore the life and legacy of a major female architectural patron.

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Ticket Price: £6
Date: Tuesday, February 18th, 2025
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Venue: Online
Location: Winter Online Lecture Series 2025 | Online
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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.

More information
Ticket Price: £6
Date: Wednesday, February 19th, 2025
Time: 7:00 pm– 8:30 pm
Venue: Priory Gardens, London W4 1TT – View on map
Location: London | In Person
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Online Lecture: ‘A Plea for women practising architecture’. Ethel and Bessie Charles, First Women Members of the RIBA’, by Henrietta McBurney

Henrietta McBurney will consider their work against the background of late Victorian & Edwardian architecture and social history.

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Ticket Price: £6
Date: Tuesday, February 25th, 2025
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Venue: Online
Location: Winter Online Lecture Series 2025 | Online
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March

Online Lecture: Octavia Hill, John Ruskin, and Victorian Society, by William Whyte

William Whyte looks at her approach to social work as it was particularly shaped by her understanding of art and architecture.

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Ticket Price: £6
Date: Wednesday, March 5th, 2025
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Venue: Online
Location: Winter Online Lecture Series 2025 | Online
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Online Lecture: Clotilde Brewster: A Life in Perspective: the Journey of the First Female international Architect

Laura Fitzmaurice discusses the life of Clotilde Brewster (1874–1937) who became the first woman to work internationally as an architect.

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Ticket Price: £6
Date: Tuesday, March 11th, 2025
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Venue: Online
Location: Winter Online Lecture Series 2025 | Online
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Ticket Price: £5
Date: Tuesday, March 11th, 2025
Time: 7:00 pm
Venue: Showroom 5, Paternoster Row, Sheffield City Centre, Sheffield S1 2BX – View on map
Location: Talk | South Yorkshire | In Person
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April

Ticket Price: £5
Date: Tuesday, April 8th, 2025
Time: 7:00 pm
Venue: Showroom 5, Paternoster Row, Sheffield City Centre, Sheffield S1 2BX – View on map
Location: Talk | South Yorkshire | In Person
Book now