Past Events

Colonial Aspiration and Nineteenth Century Public Building in Australia

‘In touch with our modern civilization’: Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, in the Nineteenth and Twenty-first Centuries

Victorian Short Story Reading Group: ‘The Body Snatcher’, by Robert Louis Stevenson with June Lawrence

This Scottish short story of two grave robbers has characters based on criminals employed by the real-life surgeon Robert Knox (1791–1862).

Enviable Reputation: An Indian Engineer and the Construction of Victorian Bombay

This lecture will examine the role of one prominent Indian architect and engineer of the Victorian era, Khan Bahadur Muncherji Cowasji Murzban (1839-1917) concentrating on his official career to examine his meteoric rise and his role in the construction of Victorian Bombay.

Life on the Buffalo River – the Development of East London, South Africa

The river port town of East London, on the eastern seaboard of South Africa, was born in conflict in 1848, and after a long period of penury, finally commenced with more substantial development in the 1870s. The talk will provide an overview of the history and development of the town and present some of the Victorian era architecture and structures.

Eclecticism and Ornament in Malaya’s Vernacular Classicism

This lecture explores how the eclectic ornamental classicism of Victorian and Edwardian Britain came to influence Malaya’s own syncretic brand of classical architecture, resulting in a unique regional style.

Victorian Short Story Reading Group: ‘Kidnapped’ and ‘Thrown Away’ by Rudyard Kipling

We start with stories of India. As we explore these stories, we should gain a more personal perspective of the lives lived within the colonial system than that recorded in the history books.

From Pauper Palace to Regional General Hospital – Mary Garside.

Building Better Britain: Victorian Architecture in New Zealand, 1840 – 1901

The nineteenth-century colonisation of New Zealand was seen as an opportunity to establish a new society on the far side of the world that would perpetuate British culture while avoiding the poverty, overcrowding and industrial pollution that afflicted contemporary Britain.

Victoria Arches – An illustrated talk by Keith Warrender

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.

The Architecture of ‘Greater Britain’: Style and Empire, c.1885-1915

This lecture will consider the role architecture played in responding to perceived notions of British decline in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Walk: James Pigott Pritchett (Snr). in York, Led by Dr Victoria Hopgood

Symposium to celebrate the completion of Birmingham cathedral’s divine beauty project

A celebration of the completion of the Divine Beauty Project, which involved cleaning and renovating the magnificent Edward Burne-Jones windows at Birmingham Cathedral. Speakers include Andy Delmage, Canon Missioner at the Cathedral, Rhian Tritton, Divine Beauty Project Officer, Steve Clare who restored the windows and Peter Cormack, former director of the William Morris Gallery.

The Liverpool Regional Group relaunching on 20th March with a valedictory talk by Ken Moth

50 Years in Building Conservation, an illustrated talk by Ken Moth

Tour of Sheffield Town Hall – Led by Cllr Janet Ridler SCC Heritage Champion.

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).

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.

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.

Ernest George and large country houses

In this talk, Hilary Grainger explores the larger country houses considered to be the backbone of his practice. He designed over two dozen with Peto and seven with Yeates, in addition to altering, restoring and adding to many others. Clients were drawn from a wide spectrum – the landed gentry, the professions, trade and industry and the middle classes.

Members’ Afternoon

Members and their guests are invited to bring a maximum of 6 images on a memory stick to explain and share.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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: 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. 

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.

Victorian Short Story Reading Group: ‘The White Tiger’ and ‘Caulfield’s Crime’ by Alice Perrin

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.

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.

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.

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.

June event: A Walk round Bury

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: 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: 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’.

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.

A Walking Tour of City Road Cemetery, Sheffield with Graham Hague.

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.

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).

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.

Walk: Walkley with Walkley Historians – SOLD OUT

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

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.

Walk: Sheffield Networks of Activism – A free guided walk during Heritage Open Days

Walk: Exploring Brixton’s Victorian History

In this walking tour, led by the Brixton Society, we will explore the fascinating retail heritage of Brixton.