Events

Half-day | £45

Set in the heart of rural Cambridgeshire, Kimbolton Castle was first built as a fortified manor house, and later modified during the Tudor and Stuart periods. It was the home of the Earl and Dukes of Manchester for over three hundred years.

The Castle in its present form dates almost entirely to between 1690 and 1720, when it was remodelled in two stages by Charles Edward Montagu, the fourth Earl. The first stage was undertaken by Henry Bell with Sir John Vanbrugh responsible for the second. In 1764 Robert Adam designed the gatehouse to blend with Vanbrugh’s masculine style. In 1950 the Castle was bought by Kimbolton School whose home it has been ever since. Andrew Bamford, Castle Curator, will lead an exclusive tour of this rarely open Vanbrugh masterpiece.

The event is for Georgian Group members’ only. Please read our terms and conditions before booking. 

If tickets have sold out for this event, please email members@georgiangroup.org.uk to be added to the waiting list.

Photo Credit: Kimbolton Castle

Across the visual arts in France and Britain in the 1820s and 1830s a dynamic culture of fashion was taking shape. Wide-ranging in taste and driven by a quest for the new, fashion flourished in the period’s expansive print production, while the fine arts negotiated demands for novelty more paradoxically, partly by reviving styles from the past. Following the publication of her new book, Susan L. Siegfried will argue that the intersections between fashion, costume, and art in these pivotal decades embody the fractured conditions of early nineteenth-century modernity.

The talk starts at 6.30pm.

Georgian Group members are eligible for a discount on their ticket by entering GGMEMBER at the checkout.

Please read our Terms and Conditions before booking.

If tickets have sold out for this event, please email members@georgiangroup.org.uk to be added to the waiting list

October 15th – College of Arms with Bluemantle Pursuivant

Join the Young Georgians on October 15th for an exclusive, after-hours visit to His Majesty’s College of Arms, where we will be hosted by James Peill, F.S.A. (Bluemantle Pursuivant and ex YG Chair) for an evening of heraldic discovery.

Arriving at 6:15 PM for a 6:30 PM start, guests will enjoy an expert talk on the evolution of heraldry, the College’s unique architecture, and the daily inner workings of its ancient practices. In this special Vanbrugh300 anniversary year, we will pay particular tribute to Sir John Vanbrugh’s tenure as a herald, exploring archival links to the famed architect before heading into the Record Room for a rare viewing of manuscripts dating back to the 15th Century.

The evening concludes with drinks and conversation at 8:15 PM, providing a chance to mingle and ask questions before we depart at 9:00 PM.

Places are limited to 20 people.

£15 members/£18 non-members

The architect, collector and teacher John Soane (1753–1837) did not mince his words. During his tenure as Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy in London, he was openly critical or complimentary of other architects as he saw fit. The work of the playwright-turned-architect John Vanbrugh was quite at odds with Soane’s own output, and yet Soane admired Vanbrugh enormously for his dynamic and inventive compositions, lauding his ‘genius’, ‘his bold flights of irregular fancy’, and hailing him as ‘the Shakespeare of architects’.

It is perhaps unsurprising that Soane should so venerate Vanbrugh’s dramatic flair, given that Soane cherished the theatre, and even owned four volumes of Vanbrugh’s plays. Subtle layering and hanging pendentive arches in Soane’s own work allude to his fascination for the physical construction of the theatre, notably the proscenium arch and stage legs. And so to find an architect whose work so eloquently married Soane’s twin passions for architecture and theatre was sure to result in his admiration.

This lecture will focus on Soane’s devotion to Vanbrugh. We will consider Soane’s own words on the subject from his Royal Academy lectures, and we will peruse the ten exquisite Royal Academy lecture drawings made by Soane’s office to illustrate Vanbrugh’s best-known works.

The talk starts at 6.30pm, doors open from 6.15pm.

Georgian Group members are eligible for a discount on their ticket by entering GGMEMBER at the checkout.

Please read our Terms and Conditions before booking.

If tickets have sold out for this event, please email members@georgiangroup.org.uk to be added to the waiting list

Half-day | £50

Syon House has been the home of the Percy family since the late 16th century. The house and park were redesigned by Robert Adam and Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown in the 1760s. The interior designer Lady Caroline Percy, who spent much of her childhood in the house, and the architectural historian Oliver Gerrish will guide members through Syon House using Robert Adam’s designs as reference. They will provide exclusive insight into Adam’s creative process, explaining how and why he designed these spectacular new interiors for the Percy family.

The event is for Georgian Group members’ only. Please read our terms and conditions before booking. 

If tickets have sold out for this event, please email members@georgiangroup.org.uk to be added to the waiting list.

Photo Credit: Historic Houses

The Radcliffe Camera is one of Oxford’s best-loved buildings. This talk by William Aslet looks at how it came into being, at the paths not taken in its design, and at how the library that was built to designs by the architect James Gibbs helped shape the urban fabric of the city surrounding it.

The talk starts at 6.30pm.

Georgian Group members are eligible for a discount on their ticket by entering GGMEMBER at the checkout.

Please read our Terms and Conditions before booking.

If tickets have sold out for this event, please email members@georgiangroup.org.uk to be added to the waiting list

Photo Credit: John Cairns & The Bodleian Library

Half-day | £35

Martin Randall, author of a forthcoming book on the architecture of London’s houses, leads a walk across the Bedford Estate which culminates on Bedford Square, the best-preserved of high-end Georgian residential set-pieces in the capital. We see inside a house, now the Paul Mellon Centre, with refreshments. This walk will be undertaken with the benefit of audio headsets.

The event is for Georgian Group members’ only. Please read our terms and conditions before booking. 

If tickets have sold out for this event, please email members@georgiangroup.org.uk to be added to the waiting list.

Photo Credit: The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

George Carter, Patrick Goode and Caroline Knight have arranged a study day considering building materials, and in particular brickwork and brick making.

The day will start at Silverstone Farm, with tea and coffee at 10.30. Three talks will follow, with Caroline Knight looking at various 18thC building materials, George Carter considering the brickwork of Holkham Hall and its garden buildings, and Patrick Goode talking about bricks and brick making. We will then drive in our own cars to Holkham Hall where we will have lunch in the café. After lunch, by kind permission of the Earl of Leicester, we will look at the unusual rusticated brickwork of Holkham Hall, where building began in 1735, and we will be shown some of the moulds used to make the bricks. We will then drive across the park to the Walled Garden, where we will be joined by the head gardener, Mark Morrell. We will examine the brickwork of the recently restored Walled Garden (c. 1780) and the nearby Vinery, designed by Samuel Wyatt. We will then visit the brick and stone Doric Temple, the first building to be built in the park, completed just before the house was begun.

Members and non-members are welcome.

Cost: £40 (which does not include lunch or parking at Holkham)

£15 members/£18 non-members
Please note that the date of this talk has changed to the 29th September

George Saumarez Smith will discuss his new book, The Romance of Classicism: Designing the English Country House for Today. More details to follow.

The talk starts at 6.30pm, doors open from 6.15pm.

Georgian Group members are eligible for a discount on their ticket by entering GGMEMBER at the checkout.

Please read our Terms and Conditions before booking.

If tickets have sold out for this event, please email members@georgiangroup.org.uk to be added to the waiting list

Photo Credit: ADAM Architecture

£15 members/£18 non-members

Nicholas Boys-Smith, Founder & Chairman of Create Streets, and Hugh Petter, architect, urban designer, and director of ADAM Architecture, will discuss ‘place-making’ in modern Britain. Both champions of beauty, gentle density, and sustainability, the discussion will touch on new town planning, the revival of traditional urban forms, design codes that deliver variety and civic pride, and how to create places in which people want to live. Wine will be served following this panel discussion.

The talk starts at 6.30pm, doors open from 6.15pm.

Georgian Group members are eligible for a discount on their ticket by entering GGMEMBER at the checkout.

Please read our Terms and Conditions before booking.

If tickets have sold out for this event, please email members@georgiangroup.org.uk to be added to the waiting list

£5 members/£7 non-members

Please note this lecture will now take place online.

Georgian Britain was responsible for most of the inventions that brought about the Industrial Revolution. One of the earliest aspects was the transformation of the textile industry. In 1714, this was conducted entirely by hand spinners and weavers working in their homes. By 1837, the industry was run on fast and powerful machinery in vast mills, powered by steam, and served by a regimented workforce. Steven Brindle will look at how Georgian drive and ingenuity transformed the textile industry and changed the world.

The talk starts at 6.30pm.

Georgian Group members are eligible for a discount on their ticket by entering GGMEMBER at the checkout.

Please read our Terms and Conditions before booking.

If tickets have sold out for this event, please email members@georgiangroup.org.uk to be added to the waiting list

Photo Credit: Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings & English Heritage

Saturday 5th – Sunday 6th September

Follow William Gilpin’s picturesque tour of the Lower Wye Valley, along the border of England and South Wales, Georgian Group members will explore how eighteenth-century travellers experienced this dramatic landscape.

Beginning at Chepstow Castle at 9:30-10am, we will continue to Piercefield Park, where the ruined Georgian country house and designed walks frame celebrated views over the Wye Valley. We will lunch at Wyndcliffe Court, a privately-owned Arts & Crafts house built in 1922 high above the River Wye by Eric Francis and Henry Avray Tipping, before touring Tintern Abbey, one of the most admired picturesque ruins in Britain. The day will end in Monmouth. Along the way we will consider Gilpin’s ideas of the ‘picturesque’ in poetry, painting, and landscape design, and the popularity of Wye tourism in the Georgian period.

Members may wish extend the trip by staying in Chepstow on the night of Friday 4th and in Monmouth on the night of Saturday 5th: A visit to the private Clytha House (usually private) has been arranged for the morning of Sunday 6 September. (Attendees to secure their own accommodation).

£55 per person – includes a lunch at Wyndcliffe Court and entry to Tintern Abbey.

Organisers: Frederick Hervey-Bathurst (YG Chair) & Dr. Eleanor Stephenson (Research Curator at National Museum, Cardiff)

The event is organised by the Young Georgians but is open to members of all ages.

22nd August 5pm

You are invited to the third annual Young Georgians Ball, this year with more food, more drink, more music, and more entertainment!

It will begin with Regency dancing under the marquee in the Fitzroy Square garden, before we proceed inside for food and some other treats.

It has twice been sold out, so ensure you buy your tickets early!

Dress code: Georgian attire or Black Tie

Thursday 13 August, 6.30pm – 8.30pm, £15

Members are invited to join us in the Fitzroy Square private gardens (weather permitting) for our summer drinks. This is an opportunity for members to meet and socialise in a relaxed atmosphere.

This event is for Georgian Group members and prospective members

All day | £60

Members will be welcomed to Stepleton House near Blandford Forum. Highly commended at the 2025 Georgian Group Architectural Awards for extensive yet sensitive repair with thoughtful modernisation, members will be led through the house by the present owners.

Melbury House, near Evershot in Dorset, has been the seat of the Strangways family since the 1500s. Altered and extended in 1692 by Thomas Strangways (under the probable direction of John Watson of Glashampton), it is the home of the Hon. Charlotte Townshend.

Guided by the architectural historian Charles Hind, members will have the rare opportunity to visit these private houses.

The event is for Georgian Group members’ only. Please read our terms and conditions before booking. 

If tickets have sold out for this event, please email members@georgiangroup.org.uk to be added to the waiting list.

Photo Credit: Greenlys Photography

Join the Young Georgians and members of the After Hours Art Club for an exclusive evening at the fourth edition of the Treasure House Fair, held within the historic grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Founded by Thomas Woodham-Smith and Harry van der Hoorn, the fair has quickly become a highlight of London’s summer season, bringing together seventy of the world’s leading dealers in art, antiques, jewellery and design.

Our evening will begin with a private gathering and drinks reception on the terrace from 6:00–6:30pm, where we will hear an introduction to the Fair. We will then explore together and enjoy conversations before the Fair closes at 8pm. Please note, ticket-holders to this event will also have access to visit the fair at any time throughout the day from 11am and so are welcome to arrive and explore in advance of our 6pm drinks on the terrace. Ticket-holders will also be able to visit again on the final day of the fair, 30th June.

Join us for a special tour and handling session at Bonhams New Bond Street during Classics Week.

Twice a year, the London art world comes together for a celebration of traditional art, antiques, and collecting, with a series of prestigious sales taking place across the week. At Bonhams, Classics Week showcases an exceptional range of auctions, including Fine Clocks, 500 Years of European Ceramics, Fine Decorative Arts, Old Masters, and Antiquities.

From 2:00pm on Saturday 27 June, join our specialists for a guided tour of sales and discover the remarkable objects and stories behind them. This is a unique opportunity to explore the exhibitions up close and gain insight into the expertise that brings these collections to auction.

Free to attend, no cap on numbers.

£15 members/£18 non-members

Jeremy Musson, author of The Country Houses of Sir John Vanbrugh: From the Archives of Country Life, 2008, explores the nature of Vanbrugh’s great houses, shares his memories of his visits for his 2008 book, and reflects on Vanbrugh’s continuing reputation, and his continuing admiration for the inventive and compelling language of Vanbrugh’s letters on architecture.

The talk starts at 6.30pm, doors open from 6.15pm.

Georgian Group members are eligible for a discount on their ticket by entering GGMEMBER at the checkout.

Please read our Terms and Conditions before booking.

If tickets have sold out for this event, please email members@georgiangroup.org.uk to be added to the waiting list

Goddards, Surrey – Sunday 7 June 2026 (£30pp)

Join us for a relaxed summer visit to Goddards, the early Arts and Crafts house designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens with gardens by Gertrude Jekyll. Arrive from 11am for hot drinks, followed by a guided tour of the house and garden, buffet lunch, and the chance to play skittles in Lutyens’ purpose-designed skittle alley, Following lunch, Young Georgians may wish to spend the afternoon walking amongst the surrounding Surrey Hills or sketching the House and Garden (until 3pm please).

For those travelling from London, we recommend a train to Dorking followed by a short taxi ride. 

Advance booking required; places are limited.

(Photo credit – The Landmark Trust)

*This event is now sold out. To be added to the waiting list please email members@georgiangroup.org.uk*

For this second visit as part of the VANBRUGH300 celebrations in 2026, we shall visit Seaton Delaval Hall, Northumberland – one of architect Sir John Vanbrugh’s smaller country houses but
home to the larger-than-life Delaval family. The National Trust acquired the property in 2009 and has since made significant repairs to the Hall, which had fallen into disrepair following a serious fire in the 19th century. The tour will be led by the Collections and House Manager.

In the afternoon, we will travel to nearby Newcastle (approx. 25 min drive) for a walking tour of recent casework in the city, led by our Senior Conservation Adviser for the North, Thomas Whitfield.

The event is for Georgian Group members’ only. Please read our terms and conditions before booking. Members who are also members of the National Trust should use the discount code NTMEMBER at the checkout. Please remember to bring your NT card with you on the day. 

If tickets have sold out for this event, please email members@georgiangroup.org.uk to be added to the waiting list.

Image: Seaton Deleval Hall, National Trust

Rousham House & Gardens – Saturday 16 May 2026 (£30pp)

Join us for a special visit to Rousham, including a guided tour of the celebrated William Kent interiors (not normally open to the public). Visitors may arrive from 11am to explore the grounds, with the interior tour beginning at 12 noon, followed by free time to enjoy the magnificent William Kent gardens; please bring a picnic to enjoy in the landscape.

After the tour, you are welcome to linger in the gardens, explore the picturesque Cherwell Valley countryside, or visit nearby sites. Price includes the guided tour; advance booking required. For those travelling from London, we recommend a train to Paddington, then onward to Heyford, approximately a 15-minute walk from Rousham.

£15 members/£18 non-members

What, precisely, defines English, British, or Irish Palladianism? Architectural historian Steven Brindle explores the nature of Palladio’s impact in Britain through his Four Books, his architectural drawings, and his surviving buildings. Some historians have questioned whether a distinct British Palladian architecture ever truly existed. Brindle contends that it did—emerging as a unique 17th- and 18th-century phenomenon shaped by diverse sources and adapted to the tastes and needs of Britain and Ireland.

The talk starts at 6.30pm, doors open from 6.15pm.

Georgian Group members are eligible for a discount on their ticket by entering GGMEMBER at the checkout.

Please read our Terms and Conditions before booking.

If tickets have sold out for this event, please email members@georgiangroup.org.uk to be added to the waiting list

Leading architectural historian Dr Steven Brindle – an expert on the architecture of the British Museum – will speak to the Georgian Group about the history of the Museum, and the new proposals for two purpose-designed visitor pavilions within the Museum’s northern and southern forecourts, and extensive new informal landscaping.

The talk starts at 6.30pm.

Georgian Group members are eligible for a discount on their ticket by entering GGMEMBER at the checkout.

Please read our Terms and Conditions before booking.

If tickets have sold out for this event, please email members@georgiangroup.org.uk to be added to the waiting list

Image: Copyright Studio Weave