The Victorian Society

The Victorian Society The only charity dedicated to fighting to save Victorian and Edwardian heritage. Join us today! Your membership is vital to achieving our mission.
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We promote sensitive reuse of historic buildings to generate much lower carbon emissions than demolition and rebuild - helping tackle the climate emergency and the UK to reach net zero. For more information on joining the Victorian Society visit: http://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/join/

The Society was founded in 1958. Since then it has helped to secure the future of buildings such as the Foreign

Office, the Albert Dock and St Pancras Station. page information:

Views posted by users on our page should not be taken to be the views of the Victorian Society. Any posts on the Victorian Society’s page which are offensive, potentially libellous or threatening will be removed and any user posting such material may be blocked from posting on the page. If you believe that a post on our page should be removed, please email [email protected] and we will review the post as soon as possible.

Two years ago, St Mary’s, Somers Town, faced closure and possible demolition. Now, the scaffolding has been removed from...
20/08/2026

Two years ago, St Mary’s, Somers Town, faced closure and possible demolition. Now, the scaffolding has been removed from its newly restored west front.

In 2024, representatives of the Diocese, parish and heritage bodies gathered at the Grade II-listed church for a crucial summit about its future. The Victorian Society spoke out strongly against closure and demolition, urging that another future be found.

What has happened since is a remarkable turnaround. The Friends of St Mary's Church, Somers Town was established and set about securing the church’s future. In 2025, St Mary’s received £639,064 through the UK Government’s Heritage at Risk Capital Fund, administered by Historic England. Phase 1 of the restoration is now nearing completion, and the results are magnificent.

Built in 1824–27 by William and Henry William Inwood, St Mary’s was famously illustrated by A. W. N. Pugin in his 'Contrasts' (1836) as an example of what he considered bad modern church architecture. Nearly two centuries later, the west front he lampooned has been painstakingly restored.

Huge congratulations to The Friends of StMary's Church Somers Town on this remarkable achievement. There is still much more to do: they now need to raise funds for Phase 2. You can support them here:
https://www.friendsofstmaryssomerstown.org/fundraising

And thanks too to Historic England and The National Lottery Heritage Fund for their support. Conservation works by ArtArchitects.

Photos: Connor McNeill

The Victorian Society welcomes Buckinghamshire Council issuing a listed building repairs notice on the owners of Mentmor...
19/08/2026

The Victorian Society welcomes Buckinghamshire Council issuing a listed building repairs notice on the owners of Mentmore Towers. This gives the owner two months to prove to the Council that repairs to arrest water ingression and falling masonry are being progressed. The exceptionally fine Jacobethan style country house is on Historic England's Buildings at Risk Register.

The Grade I stately home is highly significant. It was designed by Sir Joseph Paxton and G H Stokes for Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild. It was built in 1852-54, the first of the Rothschild properties to be constructed in the Vale of Aylesbury. Government plans to acquire the building for the V&A in 1977 did not come to fruition.

The council can consider compulsory purchase of the building if works are not undertaken.

📷

Distant view of Mentmore Towers by Alex from The Chiltern Hills licensed under CC BY 2.0

Interior: Great Hall, Cornell University Library - Flickr Commons

Learn more about Matthew Digby Wyatt in our book on the architect - and discover more buildings the Victorian Society ha...
19/08/2026

Learn more about Matthew Digby Wyatt in our book on the architect - and discover more buildings the Victorian Society have saved on our website. Want to help? Join us as a member to support our work!

Images courtesy of Gary Holmes, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, User:Collin, Leonard Bentley, James Stringer and Nick Garrod

🏡 A tale of two Birmingham Park Lodges. 🍾 On 4th August the Society received the news from Historic England that followi...
18/08/2026

🏡 A tale of two Birmingham Park Lodges.

🍾 On 4th August the Society received the news from Historic England that following our application, the Victorian Handsworth Park Lodge, built in 1888, with its charming, jaunty, small timber clock tower, had been added to the official register of listed buildings 🥂

🔥 However, the Society’s joy at having succeeded in obtaining statutory protection from the DCMS and Historic England for one of Birmingham’s heritage park lodges was very short-lived, as an earlier park lodge building, at Calthorpe Park in Edgbaston, was also subjected to an apparent arson attack sometime around 7th and 8th August.

Both park lodges are owned by Birmingham Council. Both have now been subject to fires. Both can be purposefully given sensitive re-use.

Read more: https://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/national-news/celebration-of-the-listing-of-one-birmingham-park-lodge-cut-short-as-another-hit-by-arson-attack/

Photos:

Handsworth Park Lodge - Tim Bridges for the Victorian Society

Calthorpe Park Lodge after arson attack - Elliott Brown

The Society are opening our own listed building as part of this year’s Open City Festival across the capital. The Victor...
17/08/2026

The Society are opening our own listed building as part of this year’s Open City Festival across the capital. The Victorian Society is based in Bedford Park in Chiswick. The building is Grade II, built in 1880, and designed by E. J. May. We are just a few minutes walk from Turnham Green tube.

Just drop-in between 11.00 am and 4.15 pm on Saturday 12th September. Bookings must be made on the Open House Festival's website from 19th August, however, for the extra guided walking tour of Bedford Park which is also free. Read more here:
https://programme.openhouse.org.uk/listings/10300

Combine your visit to the Victorian Society’s office at 1 Priory Gardens with a visit to the Chiswick Book Festival, which is taking place over the same weekend.

📷 Connor McNeill

Despite a Section 215 notice having been issued by Kirklees Council requiring the owner to make the former Oakes School ...
14/08/2026

Despite a Section 215 notice having been issued by Kirklees Council requiring the owner to make the former Oakes School in Huddersfield watertight and carry out essential structural repairs, no apparent works appear to have taken place. The building continues to deteriorate. The Society will be writing to the Council.

The former Oakes School was placed on our Top Ten Endangered Buildings list 2026. Read about the former school and why we put it on our list here:
https://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/endangered-buildings/former-oakes-school-huddersfield/

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◾ Photos of the building in August 2026 by Geoff Hughes

◾ Aerial photo of the building in April 2026 by CAV Aerial

◾ Historic photo of the school by Smith Carter - Huddersfield Exposed website

Our Director, James Hughes, is in this week's Country Life Magazine story about the campaign to faithfully reinstate the...
14/08/2026

Our Director, James Hughes, is in this week's Country Life Magazine story about the campaign to faithfully reinstate the Mack building in Glasgow 🌹

He is quoted alongside the team from Rebuild The Mack (link on our bio), and the Director of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society 🌹

Thanks to Julie Harding, the magazine's news editor, for outlining the situation with Charles Rennie Mackintosh's masterpiece, and the possible future for this influential architectural marvel🌹

Get your copy of the 12th August edition of Country Life Magazine at your local newsagent now 🌹 See their website on the link on our bio.

13/08/2026

Stones of Venice in the City of London…

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