London Summer School

June 28 – July 13, 2025

The 49th annual London Summer School program provides an invaluable opportunity for graduate students, heritage professionals, and knowledgeable enthusiasts to explore the history of British architecture, design and interiors from 1837-1914.  Led by Kit Wedd along with a distinguished array of expert curators, academics and historians, it features a detailed study of public monuments, private venues and the history of the built environment in London, the Midlands and the West Country.  The course’s unique and engaging combination of lectures, guided walks, and behind-the-scenes tours aims to reveal not only the rich variety of architecture and design encompassed by this period, but also to develop participants’ awareness and understanding of its principal designers, materials and styles.

 In London, participants will explore many of the sites and events that made the capital a vast and wealthy centre of commerce, culture and Empire. Tours have included the Palace of Westminster, St Pancras Hotel, 2 Temple Place, the Royal Courts of Justice, All Saints Margaret Street and Crossness Pumping Station. Topics also cover London’s railways, the East End, domestic interiors, and artists’ houses, and include visits to reserve collections to examine wallpapers, textiles and stained glass.

Liverpool, Birmingham, and Manchester embody the contradictions of England’s industrial heritage – incorporating majestic civic buildings as well as factories, warehouses and terraced housing.  Highlights have included Liverpool’s St George’s Hall, the Lady Lever Art Gallery and Port Sunlight, Manchester Town Hall, and the Gothic Revival churches of St Giles, Cheadle, and All Hallows, Allerton.

The Arts and Crafts Movement is explored in visits to important buildings such as William Morris’s Kelmscott Manor, Standen, and  Rodmarton and Wightwick Manors. Day trips to Oxford and Surrey examine Gothic Revival and Pre-Raphaelite gems like Keble and Worcester colleges and the Ashmolean, and country houses by Lutyens and Voysey.

Course Director: Kit Wedd

Assistant Director: Anne Mallek

Possible Lecturers include: Rosemary Hill, Joanna Banham, Ayla Lepine, Joseph Sharples, Simon Bradley, Justine Hopkins and Christine Lalumia

Tuition for the 2025 London Summer Schools* will be $7,000, and includes expert instruction, course materials, 15 nights’ hotel accommodation, entrance fees, full English breakfasts, teas, receptions, and some lunches. Accommodation throughout the program will be in single-occupancy rooms with en-suite facilities. Full and partial scholarships are available. Please email Anne Mallek, Summer Schools Administrator, at Admin@VSASummerSchools.org, with any additional questions.

*London-area residents may request a reduced rate that does not include housing. Please contact the Summer Schools Administrator for details.

 

“An unforgettable experience that offered incredible access to sites and collections that enriched my research in numerous ways. I highly recommend the program to anyone interested in 19th century art and architecture” – Dr. Melissa Buron, Director of Collections and Chief Curator, V&A (London 2014)