"THE DESTRUCTION OF VICTORIAN LONDON"
The Vivat Trust's 2014 Annual Lecture
The Vivat Trust is delighted to announce that its annual lecture will be held on Thursday 25th September 2014, at St Paul's, Knightsbridge, London SW1.
Gavin Stamp, writer, scholar and one of our country's most distinguished architectural historians, will expose, as the sub-title of his 2010 publication 'Lost Victorian Britain', states, "how the twentieth century destroyed the nineteenth century's architectural masterpieces."
No major city was left untouched- the losses in London were most savage. During the twentieth century, particularly the first half, all things Victorian were loathed. As the decades rolled on this attitude was replaced with a shocking wave of philistinism with the pressures of urban expansion often used to defend the decisions.
The Imperial Institute in Kensington, designed by Thomas Colcutt, and built in 1893 by public subscription as a monument to Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee is just one of many victims. Stamp describes it as "the first major undamaged Victorian building to be demolished after the Second World War" "Magnificently built of red-gauged brickwork and Portland stone, it was the supreme example of the eclectic taste of the 1880s," writes Stamp. All but a campanile were destroyed in 1956.
This attitude has largely been replaced and Victorian buildings, painting and literature are generally held in high esteem. On occasion the process continues. In July it was announced that SAVE Britain's Heritage and the Victorian Society have recently won a public inquiry which will see off plans for a scheme that would have resulted in the worst mutilation of a Victorian building in thirty years.
Simon Green, a Vivat Trust trustee and architectural historian, will precede Gavin Stamp with a lively trot through the Trust's approach to interior design, and how it reconciles the constraints of a historic interior with the expectations of contemporary guests.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
The lecture starts at 7pm and drinks will be served afterwards at approximately 8pm. To pay for entry please contact Bronwyn Neal: [email protected] T: 01981 550 753
The Vivat Trust was established in 1981 as a registered charity and a national building preservation trust to secure, for the future benefit of the nation, buildings of historical, architectural or industrial interest threatened by neglect, insensitive alteration or ultimately, demolition. Holiday accommodation not only generates an income for a building, ensuring that all maintenance and running costs are covered, it also keeps it in use, reviving it with a new purpose and allowing as many as possible to learn about the past through staying there, the annual open days and links with the local community and its schools. www.vivatrust.org
Gavin Stamp was born in Bromley in 1948 and read History and then the History of Art at Cambridge. For most of his career he has been a freelance writer on the history of architecture as well as teaching, organising exhibitions, and dabbling in architectural journalism. For twelve years he taught the history of architecture at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art, and was eventually made an honorary professor by the University of Glasgow. Since 2003 he has reverted to being an independent scholar. He has a particular interest in 19th and 20th century British Architecture and has written about the work of Alexander 'Greek' Thomson, the Gilbert Scott dynasty and Sir Edwin Lutyens, amongst others. He has also published on the earliest photography of London and the history of telephone kiosks. His most recent books are Britain's Lost Cities, The Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, Lost Victorian Britain and Anti-Ugly. He is an honorary Fellow of both the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland and the Royal Institute of British Architects and considers that one of the greatest boons to civilization which originated in England was the railway.
SAVE Britain's Heritage has been campaigning for historic buildings since its formation in 1975 by a group of architects, journalists and planners. It is a strong, independent voice in conservation, free to respond rapidly to emergencies and to speak out loud for the historic built environment. www.savebritainsheritage.org
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