Past Events

The Antony Dale lecture will be presented by Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of the newly reconstituted Historic England. He will give a brief illustrated talk on how England’s heritage has been protected and the challenges we face in keeping it. Following this he will be joined by Gavin Henderson for a general discussion and Q&A session. Duncan Wilson OBE became Chief Executive of the newly formed Historic England in May 2015. Prior to that Duncan was Chief Executive of the Alexandra Park…

The John Small lecture this year treats us to a light-hearted glimpse of some buildings of Regency Square and the people that lived in them.  Suzanne Hinton, our Regency Society membership secretary,  has been a translator of literary fiction and historical documents for some 10 years and writes and gives talks on local history. This anticipated lecture relates to her recent publication 'Regency Square: its history and its stories'. Copies of the book will be available for sale at the…

Our tour of Merseyside in June 2019 is now fully booked.  It is being organised by a small team led by trustee, Richard Robinson with support from a company called Tailored Travel. We will travel by luxury coach to and from Liverpool and the 4 nights’ accommodation will be in the **** Mercure Hotel on Liverpool’s waterfront.  The cost is £460 for a shared room and £555 for a single. If you would like to be notified should any places…

  This year's summer garden party will take place in our traditional location, the Secret Garden in Kemptown. We can promise drinks, canapes, very good conversation with RS friends and, just this year, the secret tunnel will be accessible during the garden party and there will be the opportunity to enjoy William Pye's amazing water sculptures, presently being exhibited there. "The Secret Garden originally belonged to no 32 Sussex Square which was bought by its first owner, Lawrence Peel, younger brother of the…

The first event will be a somewhat different and more light hearted event than usual.  The work of four important local pioneers covering medicine, art, architecture and entertainment will be presented by Sue Berry, Alexandra Loske, David Fisher, and Maurice Howard. Who most deserved support? You decide!

Peter Clegg of FCB Architects will discuss the recent restoration and adaptation by his firm of the historic former royal stables to provide a new creative space, a new café and bars and a refurbished Studio Theatre.  Sadly, work on the restoration has come to a halt because the main contractor, R Durtnell and Sons Ltd has ceased trading.  This company is said to have been Britain’s oldest construction firm, having been founded in 1591. We had hoped to hold this…

  Allan Brodie of Historic England is the author of The Seaside.  He will talk about the grandiose schemes in classically inspired architectural styles, aimed to draw wealthier visitors to new and enlarged seaside resorts in the days before the railways. By the early 19th century confidence in the idea of the seaside holiday was allowing investors to create new resorts and larger extensions to existing resorts. Along the south coast of England a series of grandiose schemes in classically-inspired…

  Begun in 1868, the Grade I listed chapel at Lancing College is the largest school chapel in the world. Jeremy Tomlinson will describe the Gothic Revival architecture and the work being done to complete it. Jeremy Tomlinson worked at Lancing College for 41 years as a teacher of English, Head of Drama, Housemaster, Senior Master and Registrar. He is now Steward of the Chapel. A tour of the chapel, combined with a walking tour of nearby Steyning, will take…

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) was founded by William Morris, Philip Webb and others in 1877 to campaign for, advise on and support honesty in the restoration of old buildings. The society’s director will describe the principles and how they are put into practice. Matthew Slocombe was SPAB’s head of casework before becoming the society’s director. He is Secretary of the Joint Committee of the National Amenity Societies and a member of the Conservation Committee of…

As the new year begins, Brighton College’s £55m School for Science and Sport will open to pupils. Designed by world-renowned architects OMA, the centre will boast a cinema-style auditorium linked up to science departments across the globe, 18 university-standard laboratories, six break out spaces for personal research and tutorials, a 25 metre pool, a strength and conditioning suite, a rooftop running track with panoramic views and a double-height sports hall. Brighton College have granted the Regency Society a tour of…

Let's talk about the kind of city we would like to live in! This evening is a social, convivial event where we will chat about the kind of city we would like to encourage Brighton and Hove to become and what the RS might do to help. Everybody will have a chance to have their say whether you are an experienced 'expert' or not. Every opinion counts. This is a  social event. You do not need to book a place…

A spectacular loan from Her Majesty The Queen is on display at the Royal Pavilion. The culmination of a collaborative venture between Royal Collection Trust and the Royal Pavilion & Museums, over 120 remarkable decorative works of art that were originally commissioned by the Prince Regent have been relocated from Buckingham Palace and re‐united in their previous setting of the Royal Pavilion. For the 2020 Regency Society’s Anthony Dale Lecture, Nicola Turner Inman, Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts (Projects) at…

Annual General Meeting followed by the John Small Lecture  POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE The society’s annual general meeting will be held at 7pm on Wednesday 1st April at the Friends Meeting House, Ship Street, Brighton BN1 1AF. The formal notice and agenda for the AGM can be found here. The Society’s annual report and accounts can be found here.  Printed copies will be available at the AGM. There will be elections for the posts of Honorary Treasurer. and up to seven trustees. …