Enfilade

Upcoming events from the The Georgian Group:

Hampshire Visit: Stratfield Saye House
Tuesday, 7 May 2024

Stratfield Saye House

In the heart of the English countryside on the Hampshire/Berkshire border, you’ll find the elegant, but intimate, Stratfield Saye House, home to the Dukes of Wellington since 1818. After the Battle of Waterloo the First Duke of Wellington, or the Great Duke as he was universally known, was regarded as the saviour of his country and of Europe. A grateful nation voted a substantial sum of money to enable him to buy a house and an estate worthy of a great national hero. After considering many far grander properties, he chose Stratfield Saye. Stratfield Saye House does not compare in either size or grandeur with the other great ducal houses, and it was the Great Duke’s intention to build a huge palace in the northeast corner of the park, but fortunately the money was not available. He therefore set about making his home convenient and comfortable and, as a very practical man, he was well satisfied with the results. The House today is lived in by the 9th Duke of Wellington and his family. Whilst the Great Duke’s wonderful collection of pictures are at Apsley House, which was given to the nation by the 7th Duke in 1947, Stratfield Saye House contains a fascinating collection of paintings and furniture purchased by the Great Duke with many mementos of his occupation of his modest country home. This visit is for Georgian Group members only, and participants must make their own arrangements for transport. Refreshments and lunch are included (£50).

Sue Berry | Builders as Architects and Their Significant Influence in Town and Country: The Morris and Wild Families of Sussex, 1720–1840
Online, 7 May 2024, 6.30pm

Arthur and John Morris played an important role in the development of Coombe, Firle, and Glynde Places in Sussex and worked on houses in Lewes. They dealt directly with clients even when there was an architect. Amon and Amon Henry Wilds worked mainly in two towns, Amon Henry shifting from builder to architect. He made a big impact on Brighton, designing houses, projects, churches, and chapels. There must have been many more local entrepreneurs like these, and we need to know more about them. The Wilds moved to Brighton and undertook speculative development as well as worked for clients. The Morris family did not, as Lewes did not offer the same opportunities. £5 members / £7 non-members.

Steven Brindle | The Greek Revival in England
In-person, The Georgian Group, Fitzroy Square, London, 6.30pm

In the 1750s a debate unfolded in Rome as to which was superior: Greek or Roman art? Despite the publication of volume 1 of Stuart and Revett’s Antiquities of Athens (1762), British architects and clients instinctively took their inspiration from Roman art for another generation or more. Steven Brindle considers the development of the Greek style in England, from its tentative and experimental mid-Georgian beginnings, to its sudden triumph in the Regency age, its establishment as the ‘public style’ in the 1810s and 20s, its relationship to the mainstream neoclassicism of the late-Georgian age, its decline—and its somewhat different course in Scotland. £15 members / £18 non-members.