The London Summer School director is Kit Wedd.

Kit Wedd works as a freelance writer and editor, specializing in architectural conservation and historic interior decoration.  Based at the MIC (Methodist International Conference Center) in Euston Street, London, participants will have an opportunity to be immersed in English Victorian Society. A broad overview of the period will be provided through study in London, Oxford and Liverpool. A highlight of the school is a five-day tour of the Midlands and the North of England. 

Call the Summer School for details of next year's program.

Lectures: Past lectures have included:

  • Robert Thorne, "The Iron Revolution"

  • Alan Cox, "Working Class Housing of London"

  • Andrew Sanders, "The Oxford and Cambridge Movements"

  • Chris Brooks, "The Early Victorians and the Idea of the Gothic"

  • Clive Wainwright, "A. W. N. Pugin"

  • Teresa Sladen, "Changes to Churches"

  • Alan Crawford, "Pub Decoration around 1900"

  • Gavin Stamp, "The Classical Tradition in Victorian Britain"

  • John Brandon-Jones, "Philip Webb"

  • Andrew Saint, "Norman Shaw and the Early Domestic Revival"

  • Wendy Hitchmough, "C. F A. Voysey"

  • Jane Brown, "Victorian and Edwardian Gardens"

Visits: Important sites visited in London include the New Palace of Westminster, All Saints Margaret Street, the Foreign Office, St. Pancras Station, Westminster Cathedral, Leighton House, Sambourne House, and Hampstead Garden Suburb.  From London, day trips are taken to Oxford and to Surrey to tour the 1890s country houses by Lutyens and Voysey.  The trip north includes visits to Peckforton Castle, St. Giles' Church in Cheadle, Manchester Town Hall, the Albert Dock in Liverpool, Wightwick Manor, and museums such as the Lady Lever Art Gallery and the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

Accolades

"There is no substitute for this type of learning, The direct experience of buildings, interiors and environment...is really the best of all worlds."
-Nancy Holst, Ph.D candidate, Art History, University of Delaware.

"This trip was a dream come true for me. Everyday of the program, we had the opportunity to go places and do things that only Summer Schools participants could do."
-Melissa Lin Klemins, Attorney, Ward & Klein, Chartered

"This trip was a thoroughly enriching, one of a kind experience. It was a chance to share scholarship and different observations and views with others from around the world."
-Cassandra Leslie, Graduate Student, Concordia University

 

For more information on the Summer Schools, please contact:

 

Susan E. McCallum, Administrator
Victorian Society in America Summer Schools
100 Prospect Street
Summit, New Jersey 07901
Phone: 908 522-0656
Email: vsasummerschools@comcast.net