The Georgian Revival in Interwar Britain: Conservation, Campaigning and Collections
Wednesday 12 May 2027
A Joint Symposium convened by The Georgian Group and the Victoria and Albert Museum to be held at The Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre, V&A South Kensington, London.
2027 marks the 90th anniversary of the Georgian Group. Established in 1937 amid growing concern for Britain’s architectural inheritance, the Group emerged as one of the most influential voices in the protection of historic buildings. Its founders included journalists, writers, architects, historians and campaigners whose activities shaped modern approaches to architectural conservation and public engagement with heritage. This symposium will explore the intellectual, cultural and institutional contexts from which the Georgian Group emerged and assess its place within wider interwar debates about preservation, restoration, planning, museums, taste and national identity. It also offers an opportunity to reflect on the collecting and interpretation of Georgian architecture and interiors in museums, and we welcome papers which engage with the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collections of Georgian period design.
THE GEORGIANS AND NATIONAL IDENTITY
Georgianism and Modernism; the Georgian as a live universal language
Georgian architecture and Englishness
Empire, nation and the Georgian past
FOUNDING THE GEORGIAN GROUP
Key figures including Douglas Goldring, Robert
Byron, Lord Derwent, John Betjeman and John Summerson
Women and the early Georgian Group, including figures such as Katharine Esdaile and Billa Harrod
Early membership and relationship with the SPAB
Literary, journalistic and artistic advocates
CONSERVATION IN THE INTERWAR YEARS
The state of architectural preservation
Demolition, redevelopment and public controversy
(The Bank of England, the Adelphi Terrace, Mecklenburgh Square among others)
The emergence of the amenity societies
Heritage legislation and public policy
Conservation beyond London; regional cases
MUSEUMS, COLLECTIONS AND INTERIORS
Architectural fragments and salvage
Period rooms and reconstructed interiors
The V&A and the interpretation of Georgian design
We invite papers from architectural historians, museum historians, curators, heritage professionals. historians of buildings conservation, literary scholars, social historians and conservation practitioners and from established scholars and early-career researchers. Emphasis on new research, perspectives and interpretations.
To submit a paper proposal, please email anya@georgiangroup.org.uk with an abstract of no more than 250 words for a focussed 20-minute presentation, proposed title, and brief bio by 7 December 2026.
Please use the subject line ‘Georgian Revival CFP’. Papers may be considered for publication in The Georgian Group Journal.
Image credit: Detail of Bank of England ‘Rotunda in Ruins’, c.1920s (Bank of England Archive reference: 15A13/1/3/40/2)