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...

£25

Stephen Bull leads. Starting at the Tower of London, this walk will explore the great industrial power that was the ‘Pool of London’, that stretch of the Thames where all imported cargoes had to be delivered for inspection and assessment by Customs Officers, before making our way towards the former Ratcliffe Highway, site of the infamous Ratcliffe Highway Murders of 1811.

£10.00

Lynette White examines the reality of bad manners in the 18th century and explores how they were used for comedic or dramatic effect by authors from Jane Austen to François Choderlos de Laclos. Lynette is a PhD student at Birkbeck researching the use and rules of social interaction within the more private and informal areas of the French court during the reign of Louis XV.

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

SOLD OUT

All day (inc. lunch)

Boughton House, Kettering, Northamptonshire

We are delighted to announce that the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry has generously offered to welcome Georgian Group members to his family seat at Boughton following his retirement as Group President in 2018. Originally a Tudor house with a Great Hall, much of the present house is the work of Ralph Montagu, later 1st Duke of Montagu, who inherited it in 1683. Boughton’s chateau-like exterior has led to the house being termed ‘The English Versailles’ and it contains an equally impressive suite of Baroque state rooms with a fine collection of furniture, tapestries, porcelain and works of art.The visit will involve a tour of the house and gardens and lunch.
This member event will be strictly ticketed. There are two ticket options:

• Free: members to make their own way to Boughton
• £10: coach transport for members between Kettering Station and Boughton House

Tickets will only be allocated to members. We reserve the right to cancel tickets requested by those that do not qualify.

£25.00

Stephen Bull leads. Starting at Tower Bridge, this walk will take in the south side of the Thames as we make our way to The Globe Theatre and will explore the Georgian history of this stretch of the river.

£15.00

For centuries, Britain’s country houses were the exclusive preserve of the traditional landed gentry of lords and ladies. Starting in the late 19th century, however, an entirely different kind of proprietor began to take up residence as American money came across the Atlantic. This talk will uncover the ways in which American industrialists, self-made men and eligible heiresses helped to save British country houses and how this unlikely juxtaposition of two very different cultures changed the architecture, society and character of our country houses forever.

Clive Aslet is an architectural historian, author and former editor of Country Life. He has published extensively on various aspects of British architecture and life, from country houses to war memorials.

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

£90

All day (inc. lunch at Claydon House).

Chilton House was largely rebuilt from 1739 onwards by Richard Carter, Chief Justice of South Wales, on the site of an earlier 16th-century house owned by the Croke family. Based on William Winde’s Buckingham House (1702-5), the house is constructed of red brick with stone dressings and has four storeys, including basement. The east and west elevations are of 9 bays; the more elaborate east front has a rusticated basement and stone Doric pilasters flanking the outer pair of bays. Since 1739, the Grade II* house has remained within the same family, albeit through a complex descent. The present owner, Sir Henrey Aubrey-Fletcher Bt, has restored the fine plasterwork and staircases of the 18th-century interiors and the house is currently run as a luxury private nursing home.

Claydon House, although in the National Trust’s custodianship, still remains the home of the Verney family, who have lived at Claydon since the 15th century and currently run the estate, garden and stable court enterprises. The present house, grade I-listed, dates from the 1750s and was commissioned by the 2nd Earl Verney. The rather austere exterior belies the extravagant rococo interiors, with ornate carving and chinoiserie, which were created by Luke Lightfoot. In the 1760s a second wing was built, connected to the first one by a colonnaded rotunda surmounted by a cupola. After Verney’s death in 1792, his niece Mary, Lady Fermanagh, inherited and pulled down the rotunda and second wing, thereby reducing the house to its present size.

*£10 discount when booked before 31 January (regular price £90)

Andrew Wells leads

£60.00

All day (inc. lunch).

With Roman and Saxon origins, Lancaster gained its first charter as a market town and borough in 1193. In the 18th and early 19th centuries a number of important buildings were erected during a period of prosperity, which reached its apogee in the early 19th century when the town’s port became one of the busiest in the UK. This was short lived, however, and the remainder of the 19th century was time of economic decline with little construction taking place, which has left Lancaster with an exceptional range of buildings dating between 1715 and 1830. John Martin Robinson leads this walking tour, which will take in the castle, Music Room and Judges’ lodgings among others. Dr John Martin Robinson leads.