The Victorian Society is a
UK amenity society and membership organisation that campaigns to
preserve
The word preserve may refer to:
Common uses
* Fruit preserves, a type of sweet spread or condiment
* Nature reserve, an area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or other special interest, usually protected
Arts, entertainment, and media
...
and promote interest in
Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
and
Edwardian
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
architecture and heritage built between 1837 and 1914 in England and Wales. It is a
registered charity
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
The legal definitio ...
.
Goals
The Society, a
registered charity
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
The legal definitio ...
, fights to protect Victorian and Edwardian heritage from demolition or careless alteration. As a membership organisation, the majority of its funding comes from subscription fees and events. As one of the
National Amenity Societies, The Victorian Society is a statutory consultee on alterations to
listed buildings
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ire ...
, and by law must be notified of any work to a listed building which involves any element of demolition.
The society:
* Provides advice to churches and
local planning authorities on how
Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
and
Edwardian buildings
Edwardian architecture is a Baroque Revival architecture, Neo-Baroque architectural style that was popular in the British Empire during the Edwardian era (1901–1910). Architecture up to the year 1914 may also be included in this style.
Descripti ...
and landscapes can be adapted to modern use, while keeping what is distinctive about them.
* Advises members of the public on how they can help shape the future of their local Victorian and Edwardian buildings and landscapes.
* Provides information to owners of
Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
and
Edwardian houses about how they can better look after their buildings.
* Helps people understand, appreciate and enjoy the architectural heritage of the
Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
and
Edwardian period through its publications and events.
History
Foundation
The society's foundation was proposed in November 1957 by
Anne Parsons, Countess of Rosse at her remarkably-preserved
Victorian home at
18 Stafford Terrace, Kensington (Linley Sambourne House),
with the intention of countering the widely prevalent antipathy to 19th- and early 20th-century architecture. From the 1890s into the 20th century, Victorian art had been under attack, critics writing of "the nineteenth century architectural tragedy", ridiculing "the uncompromising ugliness" of the era's buildings and attacking the "sadistic hatred of beauty" of its architects. The commonly-held view had been expressed by
P.G. Wodehouse in his 1933 novel, ''
Summer Moonshine'': "Whatever may be said in favour of the Victorians, it is pretty generally admitted that few of them were to be trusted within reach of a trowel and a pile of bricks."
The first meeting was held at Linley Sambourne House on 28 February 1958. Among its thirty founder members were the first secretary
John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architectu ...
,
Henry-Russell Hitchcock and
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, '' The Buildings of England'' ...
, who became Chairman in 1964.
Directors
Peter Fleetwood-Hesketh was secretary from 1961 to 1963. Former
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...
codebreaker,
Jane Fawcett
Jane Fawcett MBE (née Hughes; 4 March 1921 – 21 May 2016) was a British codebreaker, singer, and heritage preservationist. She recently became known for her role in decoding a message, which led to the sinking of the German battleship ...
, managed the society's affairs as secretary from 1964 to 1976. Christopher Costelloe took over as Director from Dr Ian Dungavell in 2012. Joe O'Donnell succeeded Christopher Costelloe as Director in September 2020.
Work
The society has worked to save numerous landmark buildings such as
St Pancras Station
St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It ...
,
Albert Dock in Liverpool, the
Foreign Office
Foreign may refer to:
Government
* Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries
* Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries
** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government
** Foreign office and foreign minister
* United S ...
and
Oxford University Museum.
Its campaigns have not always been successful, notably its failed attempts to save the
Euston Arch from demolition in 1961.
Examples of the society's work with churches include making complaints against proposals of church PCCs to use upholstered chairs during renovation, and appealing against proposals to raise money by selling original features.
In 2015 the society launched a campaign to preserve Victorian
gasometers, after utility companies announced plans to demolish nearly 200 of the now-outdated structures. Christopher Costelloe, the society's director, commented: "Gasometers, by their very size and structure, cannot help but become landmarks.
heyare singularly dramatic structures for all their emptiness."
The society publishes an annual list of the Top Ten Most Endangered Victorian or Edwardian Buildings in England and Wales.
''The Victorian'' magazine
Published three times a year since 1998
for the members of the Society, ''The Victorian'' magazine contains book reviews, society news and events, casework reports, and interviews.
Victorian Society in America
The Victorian Society has a sister organisation in the United States, the Victorian Society in America, founded in 1966 in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
, by such champions of historic preservation as
Brendan Gill,
Henry-Russell Hitchcock, and
Margot Gayle; it was borne from the outrage they felt at the 1964 destruction of New York's magnificent
Pennsylvania Station. the Victorian Society in America is based in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
with 12 registered chapters,
mostly in the
Eastern United States
The Eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East, Eastern America, or simply the East, is the region of the United States to the east of the Mississippi River. In some cases the term may refer to a smaller area or the East C ...
.
Counterpart bodies
The counterpart organisations to the society for the protection of the heritage of earlier and later periods are the
Georgian Group (for buildings erected between 1700 and 1840) and
The Twentieth Century Society (for post-1914 buildings).
See also
*
British industrial architecture
*
British Queen Anne Revival architecture
British Queen Anne Revival architecture, also known as Domestic Revival, is a style of building using red brick, white woodwork, and an eclectic mixture of decorative features, that became popular in the 1870s, both for houses and for larger bui ...
*
Gothic Revival architecture
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
*
Victorian house
Notes
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Victorian Society
Organizations established in 1958
Architecture organisations based in the United Kingdom
Cultural heritage of the United Kingdom
Heritage organisations in the United Kingdom
Historical societies of the United Kingdom
*Victorian Society
1958 establishments in the United Kingdom