15th annual lecture, 2026
Applications are now invited for the Society's 15th annual lecture at Cowcross Street in London on Friday 20th November 2026, starting at 6pm. Non-members are welcome. We are hoping to record this lecture and make it available here after the event.
Our speaker will be Dr Steven Brindle, whose subject will be "The Aesthetic Movement". Aestheticism was a late nineteenth century movement that championed pure beauty and "art for art's sake", emphasising the visual and sensual qualities of art and design over practical, moral or narrative considerations.
Steven Brindle read History at Keble College, Oxford, and gained a doctorate there on the architecture of late-medieval Spain in 1991. Now retired, he worked for English Heritage in a variety of roles from 1989 to 2025, latterly as Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Greater London. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and lectures on aspects of the history of architecture and engineering. His many publications include Windsor Castle: a thousand years of a royal palace (2018, as editor), which won the Historians of British Art’s prize for best multi-authored book, and Architecture in Britain and Ireland, 1530–1830 (2023).
Steven's latest book, London: lost interiors , was published by Atlantic in 2024.
Charges
Attendance will be free of charge to members and non-members alike, including a glass of wine or soft drink and nibbles. We would still like you to book, please, for planning purposes.
Joining instructions
The event will take place in The Gallery at 77 Cowcross Street, Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington.
Please do not arrive before 6pm. Our speaker's talk will start at about 7pm. The event will finish by 9pm.
The Gallery was created from the basement of a Victorian warehouse which was originally owned by Thomas Cook & Sons and is now the home of Alan Baxter & Associates LLP.
The postcode is EC1M 6EL. The nearest London Underground station is Farringdon (on the Elizabeth, Circle, Metropolitan, and Hammersmith & City lines). Farringdon is also a station on the National Rail network.
At the street entrance to The Gallery, pass under the arch and walk to the end of the courtyard, passing the glass-fronted reception of Alan Baxter & Associates. At the far end of the courtyard, turn right down the steps.
How to apply
Please complete our online application form.
Our speaker, Steven Brindle
Entrance to The Gallery in Cowcross Street,
the venue for this event
Please note our photography guidelines. We shall assume that attendees consent to their own inclusion in photographs taken on the day unless they advise the group leader otherwise.
You participate in events at your own risk, and neither the Voysey Society nor its officers or other volunteers accept any liability whatsoever, however arising. The Society reserves the right to cancel, alter or postpone events if necessary. Before applying for an event, please take into account any possible difficulty you may have because of health or other conditions.
Page last amended 14th September 2026