The Georgian period gave us many of Britain’s most beautiful buildings – in cities, towns and villages. Yet much of our Georgian inheritance remains in danger...

£15

In the first of a two-part lecture series on Wentworth Woodhouse, Peter Brown charts the fascinating creation of this Yorkshire palace. Described by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as ‘one of the greatest buildings of the Georgian Age, with interiors of exceptional value’, the house is the product of one of England’s most significant Whig families, the Marquises of Rockingham and Earls Fitzwilliam. In 1723 the future Marquis started a huge building project, in part to impress his new bride, Mary Finch, but mostly to establish his status at court. Ten years later, the West front, in curious ‘Bavarian style’, was abandoned, and a huge Palladian East front added. Work on the interiors started in the 1740s, with Italian stuccoists modelling the ceiling of the State Dining Room and Joseph Rose decorating the walls following designs by Henry Flitcroft.

This talk will draw upon family papers, plus drawings from Lord Burlington’s practice and those by James ‘Athenian’ Stuart.

Peter Brown, former Director of Fairfax House and York Civic Trust, has spent the last few years researching the history of the country houses of Yorkshire and, in particular, Wentworth Woodhouse. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and Research Associate at the University of York.

Doors open 6.15pm, talk starts 6.30pm (inc. wine). All welcome

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£15

In the second of Peter Brown’s two-part lecture series on Wentworth Woodhouse, he re-imagines what the mansion would have looked like in its heyday. When the Fitzwilliam family moved out of the house in the 1940s, a series of sales saw much of the contents distributed around the globe. Some 200 paintings and engravings, by the likes of Van Dyck, Reynolds, Stubbs and Lely, plus masterpieces by Guercino, Guido and Andrea del Sarto, were dispersed, together with 400 pieces of furniture, including works by Wright & Elwick, and some important silver, designed by Paul Crespin, Robert Adam and James ‘Athenian’ Stuart. But perhaps the most significant collection to be lost was an assembly of sculpture, collected in the main by the 2^nd Marquis during the period 1750-82. Amongst the 130 recorded pieces were important antique works of art from Herculaneum and Tivoli, together with superb 18th-century copies after the antique by the best Italian and British sculptors.

Peter Brown, former Director of Fairfax House and York Civic Trust, has spent the last few years researching the history of the country houses of Yorkshire and, in particular, Wentworth Woodhouse. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and Research Associate at the University of York.

Doors open 6.15pm, talk starts 6.30pm (inc. wine). All welcome

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£30

Like most British cities, Oxford changed profoundly in the Georgian era. These changes affected both the City and the University, and this two-hour walk will encompass some of the most interesting buildings in both. We will explore the central University area, including James Gibbs’s Radcliffe Camera, and also one or more of the colleges, hopefully including Worcester College, with buildings by Nicholas Hawksmoor. We will see how new building and rebuilding transformed the appearance of the city centre streets, and will conclude with a visit to the Ashmolean Museum, designed in 1841 by one of the most important of all late-Georgian architects, Charles Robert Cockerell.

Geoffrey Tyack leads.

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This event is for members only.

£30

This two-hour tour, led by Stephen Hoare, will begin at the Royal Academy, where there will be a brief introduction to Burlington House, Piccadilly and the clubland of St James’s, before moving on to Wren’s St James’s Church on Piccadilly. Following this, the walk will take members past the hallowed portals of White’s, Brooks’s, Boodles and the Carlton Club, before stopping to visit the old premises of Berry Bros & Rudd, where we will be able to see the original interior and the giant scales used to weigh sacks of coffee.

The walk will then stop to take in the exterior of St James’s Palace for a brief history of the building, before moving onto Pall Mall, where Schomberg House, the Oxford and Cambridge Club, the RAC, the Travellers and the Athenaeum will be viewed. Members will then be taken on a special tour of the Reform Club, founded in 1836 and designed by Sir Charles Barry and rarely open to non-members (dress restrictions will apply). The tour will then conclude with two more club houses, the “In and Out” Naval and Military Club and the East India Club, after which members have the option of joining Stephen for lunch at the Red Lion on Duke Street (not included in event ticket).

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This event is for members only.

£15

This talk will explore the intriguing relationship between the English and Versailles – more than any other foreigners, the English were fascinated by Versailles. Martin Lister, who visited it in 1698, described Versailles as the most magnificent palace ‘in all Europe’.  In 1701, John Northleigh called Versailles ‘the most beautiful palace in Europe’; the garden ‘for statues, canals, groves, grotto’s, fountains, waterworks or what else may be thought delightful, far surpasses anything to be seen of this kind in Italy’. Versailles was one of the models (although not the only one) for Greenwich, Hampton Court, Boughton and many other English houses. English houses also contained the best collections of Gobelins tapestries and Sevres porcelain outside France. The true English Versailles, however, is Versailles itself; Lord Chesterfield wrote in 1751 that an hour at Versailles was worth more than three hours in a closet with the best books. Francophilia is indeed as English as Francophobia.

Dr. Philip Mansel is author of King of the World: the Life of Louis XIV, published by Allen Lane in 2019). Previous books include Louis XVIII (1981), Paris between Empires (2001), Prince of Europe: the life of Charles-Joseph de Ligne (2005) and The Eagle in Splendour: Inside the Court of Napoleon (reprint 2015). Six of his books have been translated into French. He is a co-founder of the Society for Court Studies (www.courtstudies.org) and the Levantine Heritage Foundation (www.levantineheritage.com). In 2012 he won the London Library Life in Literature award.

Copies of Philip Mansel’s biography of Louis XIV, King of the World (2019), will be on sale at the lecture at a special reduced rate.

Doors open 6.15pm, talk starts 6.30pm (inc. wine). All welcome

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£15

Pinsent Tailoring is a one-man bespoke tailoring business, run by Zack MacLeod Pinsent, making garments from the 1660s to the 1910s and based in Brighton but with clients all over the globe. Pinsent Tailoring works closely with museums and private collections to examine original garments and documentation to create period-accurate clothing using historic materials and techniques, with an eye to sustainability. As well as crafting bespoke historical garments for clients, Zach also wears historical clothing on a daily basis, which gives him a unique perspective into the nuances of period clothing.

Join us for a unique opportunity to meet Zack, who will be talking about the historic clothing of the Georgian and Regency eras, as well as his career, and showing us some examples of his fine craftmanship.

Doors open 6.15pm, talk starts 6.30pm (inc. wine). All welcome

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(Photo by Alun Callender)

£15

Geraldine Roberts joins us to discuss the story behind her critically acclaimed book, The Angel and the Cad: Love, Loss and Scandal in Regency Britain. It tells the fascinating true story of Catherine & William Long Wellesley, who were Britain’s first ever celebrity couple and the last owners of Wanstead House, the magnificent Palladian mansion built 1715-22 for Richard Child and demolished only a hundred years later. The Regency public were fascinated by Catherine and William because they were rich, glamorous and exciting. They kept the nation enthralled for two decades as the shocking twists and turns of their lives played out in the press – there was bankruptcy, exile and a scandalous court case that set a new precedent in English law.

Geraldine Roberts grew up in East London and worked in a bank for many years before pursuing her ambition as an historian and writer. In 2010, she obtained an MA in History (with distinction) at Queen Mary University of London. She is currently working on her second book. Her first book, The Angel and the Cad, was published by Macmillan in 2015 and received glowing reviews in the national press. It was book of the week in The Times, Guardian, Telegraph and Daily Mirror, as well as book of the month in BBC History Magazine and Saga Magazine, demonstrating its wide appeal. Copies of the book will be available to purchase at a special reduced rate on the evening.

Doors open 6.15pm, talk starts 6.30pm (inc. wine). All welcome

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£15

This talk will explore the stories behind Philippa Stockley’s new book, Restoration Stories, which contains fascinating accounts of 16 restorations of mainly Georgian houses (some Regency) and one Tudor house, accompanied by more than 250 specially-taken evocative colour photos. Stockley restored her own 1812 Whitechapel home, doing much of the work herself, which features as the concluding chapter. So along with beautiful images there’ll be time to discuss paint, lime, woodworm, rot and all the delights and horrors of old houses with Philippa in the Q&A.

Philippa Stockley is a journalist, novelist and painter, whose previous books include the novels Black Lily and Murderous Liaisons, set in the 17^th and 18^th centuries respectively. An award-winning journalist, Stockley has written on housing and architecture for the Evening Standard for 20 years and is a passionate advocate of finding intelligent solutions for London’s housing deficit. She read English at Oxford and art-historical clothing history at the Courtauld. Restoration Stories was published in 2019 to rave reviews in Country Life, The Times and The Sunday Times; it was also a finalist for the 2020 People’s Book Prize.

Doors open 6.15pm, talk starts 6.30pm (inc. wine). All welcome

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£15

This talk will explore the fascinating life and scandalous death of Letitia Elizabeth Landon, celebrated in her day as the ‘female Byron’ for her poetry. The mysterious circumstances of her death, found with a bottle of Prussic acid in her hand at Cape Coast Castle, West Africa, in 1838, were as enigmatic as the particulars of her life; she was a woman with many secrets, not least three illegitimate children. Following her death she became the subject of a cover up which is only now unravelling and this talk will delve into the mystery of her life, work and death, set against the backdrop of the late Georgian period, that post-Byronic era which marked a ‘strange pause’ between the Romantics and the Victorians.

Lucasta Miller is a writer and literary journalist, who formerly worked as deputy literary editor of The Independent. She has contributed to The Guardian, The Times Literary Supplement and The Economist, as well as publishing and writing on the works of the Bronte sisters. Her biography of Letitia Elizabeth Landon was published in 2019.

Doors open 6.15pm, talk starts 6.30pm (inc. wine). All welcome

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£15

This talk will present the latest discoveries at Nos 4 & 5 Tower Green at the Tower of London, two houses of the so-called transitional type, converted from Lieutenant’s Stables in c.1685 to be occupied by Yeoman Warders. The houses have gone through many changes having been occupied in the last 300 years by close to 30 families, but interesting remnants of the early Georgian decoration survive. For example, walnut, and later oak-grained panelling on slit deal horizontal boards, a wainscot grained door, blue-green textiles on the walls as well as more run-of-the-mill panelling ranging from 1690s to 1740s (on one floor incorporating a semi-circular display buffet cabinet). Fragments of earthen plaster, which is an unusual survival in London houses, have also been discovered. At the same time, archival research has provided information about some more elegant decoration such as marbling and painted maple fold. In autumn of 2019 Historical Royal Palaces carried out an archaeological investigation of a newly discovered vaulted structure in the basement of No 4. Research on the inhabitants of these two houses – the highest-ranking Yeoman Warders: Gentleman Porters and Gaolers and other Warders who lived there with their families has yielded some interesting information about the life of individuals whose status was equal to the London upper and middling sort. Not many houses that preserve material evidence of this types of decoration survive in London and they are also unique for their location and in offering us an insight into the life which was a mixture of military duty and domesticity. This talk will consider how this unusual mixture shaped the form and interiors of the two houses.

Agnieszka Sadraei is a Curator of Historic Buildings at HRP with a responsibility for the Tower of London. She holds an MSc in Sustainable Heritage and a doctorate in Architectural History. Having worked as a Historic Buildings Consultant in the private sector, a Conservation Officer and a Senior Properties Curator and Historian for English Heritage she has a good knowledge of conservation legislation, philosophy and good practice as well as extensive research experience. Her interests focus on medieval fortifications, cults of saints and funerary sculpture as well as social heritage value which has led her to work on the residential accommodation and life of the Tower of London Community in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Doors open 6.15pm, talk starts 6.30pm (inc. wine). All welcome

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£15

The actress and singer Kitty Clive (1711-1785) was a star of the London stage for over 20 years; singing powered her ascent and was foundational to her success as she came to dominate spoken as well as musical comedy. Her musical voice helped her to become a champion of British song, of patriotism, and of propriety. However, in the 1740s critical opinion turned against Clive and her reputation suffered a sharp decline. With the help of David Garrick, she managed to salvage her career at the expense of her legacy; she quit serious song and took to caricaturing herself on stage, winning audiences back by disparaging her earlier achievements. This talk will explore the highs and lows of an extraordinary life and career in the context of performance history and star production in 18th-century Britain.

Berta Joncus is a Senior Lecturer in Music at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her research focuses on celebrity culture and the role of the performer in creating musical works. Her particular interest is in the 18th-century British and European music. In addition to teaching, she presents regularly for BBC radio and television, the English National Opera, the Barbican and Early Music Music festivals in the UK and the USA, and her book Kitty Clive, or The Fair Songster was published in 2019.

Doors open 6.15pm, talk starts 6.30pm (inc. wine). All welcome

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£25

Bury St Edmunds is not the county town of Suffolk but it is the social centre of West Suffolk. Once dominated by a magnificent abbey, it developed as a market town for the rich agricultural land around it. The medieval plan is made up of a grid pattern of streets, once lined with timber-framed houses, largely rebuilt or refaced in the 18th century. The major local family, the Herveys of Ickworth, built a grand town house in the 1730s, Robert Adam designed a small theatre, William Wilkins a larger replacement, and fine assembly rooms were provided for the local gentry. The parish church was designated a cathedral in 1914 and its spire, visible for miles around, was added as a Millennium project. This walk will explore the 18th-century development of the town and it is hoped there will be the opportunity to go inside a couple of fine 18th buildings.

Caroline Knight leads.

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This event is for members only.

£15

In October 1712 Samuel Molyneux travelled from his native Dublin to be elected Fellow of the Royal Society in London.  During his stay in England he corresponded with his learned uncle Thomas Molyneux, bestowing intellectual and well-measured accounts of some of the most noteworthy bibliophiles, collectors and connoisseurs of the day as well as first-hand descriptions of ecclesiastical and secular buildings, historic royal palaces, parks and gardens and notable public and private libraries and art collections, many of which become the nuclei of the British Museum and British Library. For the modern reader these seven meticulously written letters offer an erudite and discursive analysis of early-Enlightenment London providing a fascinating insight into the author’s intimate and voluminous knowledge of the cultural and scientific world.  Molyneux also visited Oxford and Cambridge where he made detailed first-hand descriptions of the Ashmolean Museum and several colleges.

Over a century after Molyneux’s death copies of these letters found their way into the archives of the Corporation of Southampton, now Southampton City Archives. In 2011 they were published for the first time in their entirety by the London Topographical Society www.topsoc.org/books.htm

Paul Holden FSA is a Project Curator for the National Trust House and freelance architectural historian. He has published widely on architectural history and curatorial issues in, amongst others, Apollo, British Library Electronic Journal, Country Life, Furniture History, Georgian Group Journal, Hampshire Studies, Journal of Liberal History, Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, Parliamentary History and Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society.  His publications include Lanhydrock (History Press, 2006), The Lanhydrock Atlas (Cornwall Editions, 2010), The London Letters of Samuel Molyneux 1712-13 (London Topographical Society) and Celebrating Pevsner (Francis Boutle, 2017). A book on ’50 years of the Cornish Buildings Group’ will come out in December 2019 and he is currently pulling together a set of proceedings from the 2019 Cornish Buildings Group/ Historic England conference on Cornish distinctiveness.

Doors open 6.15pm, talk starts 6.30pm (inc. wine). All welcome

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£15

Henbury Hall, Cheshire, is one of the finest classical houses of the late 20th century. Based on Palladio’s Villa Rotonda, although with some significant differences, it was built in the 1980s for Sebastian de Ferranti. This talk will be a conversation between the architect of Henbury, Julian Bicknell, and the author of a new book on the house, Jeremy Musson. They will discuss site, patron, the inspiration of Palladio and Vanbrugh, the role of Felix Kelly, the pursuit of elegant proportion, and the execution of structure and detail and response to a historic landscape setting.

Julian Bicknell is an architect who specialises in the design and construction of new buildings in which the lessons of history are combined with contemporary architectural thinking and technology; he set up his own practice, Julian Bicknell & Associates in 1983. In addition to Henbury, his work in the UK has included Carden Hall (Cheshire), new interiors at Castle Howard and projects for Oxbridge colleges.

Jeremy Musson is an author, editor and presenter specialising in British country houses and architecture. Architectural Editor at Country Life from 1998 to 2007 he has published extensively

Doors open 6.15pm, talk starts 6.30pm (inc. wine). All welcome

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£15

Robert Campbell listed the fringe, frog and tassel-maker in The London Tradesman (1747) as one of the dependants of the gold and silver laceman, which could be a lucrative trade ‘if not initiated into the Mystery of Gin-Drinking’. The more prominent members, like Robert Pitter, Matthew and William Winter and John Edwards among others, were based around Long Acre, the Strand and Soho supplying trimmings to royalty, the landed gentry and career professionals. They were involved in such lavish creations as the green velvet state bed at Houghton Hall, the private apartments at Chatsworth and the furnishings at Carlton House and Kew Palace. Using archival documentation and surviving examples, this talk will cover the important contribution of the laceman in the furnishing of the Georgian interior and examine the crucial relationship with the upholder to achieve fashionable and often extravagant effects.

Annabel Westman is Executive Director of The Attingham Trust and an independent textile historian and consultant. She specialises in the reinstallation of historic interiors for heritage bodies, including the Saloon in the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, which won the Georgian Group 2019 award for the Restoration of a Georgian Interior. She is a trustee of Stowe House Preservation Trust and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. Her book Fringe, Frog and Tassel: The Art of the Trimmings-Maker in Interior Decoration was published in 2019.

Doors open 6.15pm, talk starts 6.30pm (inc. wine). All welcome

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£15

“He was the most spiteful, sly, and vindictive and wicked man I have ever met.” Written by his nephew, this brutally honest inscription begins one volume of the lost private journals of John Margesson Esq (1794-1866), which was discovered by chance in a quantity of books bought on eBay in 2010. Covering two years of Margesson’s life, from Summer 1831 to Summer 1833, the journal begins with his return from exile in France to the Sussex country house where he grew up, before moving to London, and ending in Rome via France. Written for himself in beautiful copperplate, he gives an intimate and intensely personal glimpse into his life, his wanderings and his musings as he goes about his daily life. In this lively and entertaining lecture, we will take the role of a private detective and use Margesson’s own words and supporting research to piece together this Regency man of means, including:
• The potentially scandalous story behind his mysterious exile
• His walks through, and observations of, Regency London
• His obsessions with the weather, health, and the meaning of life
• His daily life and finances
• His love of gardens and botany
• His sexuality.
Each element will be put into the context of the age and will be illustrated with etchings, illustrations and, where possible, photographs. We’ll also examine the current affairs and notable characters he mentions and how they were received and perceived at the time by a wealthy, well-connected, and often very opinionated ‘gentleman’.

Mark Hill studied History of Art & Architecture and began his career as a porter and Junior Cataloguer at Bonhams, before moving to Sotheby’s where he was a Specialist in the Collectors’ Department. He became director of an internet company forming and running a ground-breaking deal with eBay Live Auctions and was co-author of the internationally published Collectables Price Guide with Judith Miller from 2002-17. He founded his own publishing company in 2005 and has since published over 12 books on specialist subjects in 20th-century design and decorative arts. A Miscellaneous expert on the Antiques Roadshow since 2007, he has co-presented three primetime factual TV series on antiques and collecting for BBC2. He also runs 20th-century design auctions in partnership with Dawsons Auctioneers and has lectured across the world, including at the V&A in London, and contributed to many newspapers, magazines, radio and TV programmes. He is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars and a Freeman of the City of London.

Doors open 6.15pm, talk starts 6.30pm (inc. wine). All welcome

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