Tuesday 15 May 2012, 9.30am-4.30pm

The course

Georgian houses were built in a time before mechanised construction, and were therefore hand crafted.  This day will comprise four lectures on the planning, construction and finishing of Georgian houses, looking at the stone trades, the timber trades, planning and servicing, the timber trades, stairs and chimneypieces and the stone trades. 

Programme

  • Planning and Servicing (Neil Burton) The plan of a house is one of its most important characteristics and can tell us a great deal about how the building was used.  Some knowledge of servicing – heat, light and drains – is equally important to an understanding of how Georgian houses worked and how people lived in them.
  • The Timber Trades (James Ayres) In examining an existing building it is often helpful to consider the three trades that were deployed in working wood: forestry, carpentry and joinery.  The tools of these trades quite literally shaped the resulting products.  For example, a moulding plane on a quadrant was essential for the production of the horizontal glazing bars in a bow window.
  • Stairs and Chimneypieces (Neil Burton) The stair is often the most considerable piece of design, especially in modest Georgian houses, and chimneypieces are an important part of the decorative history of any Georgian building.  This lecture will explore developments in style and construction of both these features during the 18th century
  • The Stone Trades (James Ayres) As with timber, these represent a trio of activities: quarrying, banker masonry and rough masonry.  In most crafts the nature of the material influences the tools used to work it.  Thus, in freestone districts the frig-bob was effective whilst for harder stones like Portland only the grub-saw was viable.

This day will take place at the Georgian Group’s premises, at 6 Fitzroy Square, London, W1T 5DX.

The tutors

Neil Burton is an architectural historian who worked as an historian with the Greater London Council Historic Buildings Division and then at English Heritage, at first with responsibility for churches in the whole of the north of England and later for buildings of all types in the East Midlands.  More recently he was Secretary of the Georgian Group. He has published a number of works on historic buildings, including Life in the Georgian City with Dan Cruikshank. He is now a director of The Architectural History Practice.

James Ayres was a trustee of the Bath Preservation Trust for over twenty years, in which capacity he was the founding chairman of the Building of Bath Museum.  From 1966 to 2001 he was Director of the John Judkyn Memorial at Freshford Manor (since absorbed into the American Museum).  He has written several books on architecture and the decorative arts, including Building the Georgian City (1998) and Domestic Interiors: 1500-1850 (2003). He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Participant information

No special clothing or equipment is required.

Fee

£99 per person to include tuition, teas & coffees and a light lunch.  If all three courses in The Georgian House series are booked together, the fee will be £240.

The Museum

The Weald & Downland Open Air Museum has over 45 historic building exhibits.  It is also home to the award winning and innovative Downland Gridshell, which houses a conservation workshop and artefact store, and is also used for many practical courses. The Museum runs a full programme of courses in historic building conservation and traditional rural trades and crafts, along with MSc programmes in Building Conservation and Timber Building Conservation. Please telephone for further details.

The Georgian Group

The Georgian Group is the national charity dedicated to preserving Georgian buildings and gardens. Every year they are consulted on over 6,000 planning applications involving demolition or alterations. Their intervention has helped save many Georgian buildings and has protected others from harm.

To book, download a form here.  Alternatively, fill in the booking request below.

Make a Booking Request

 
This is an initial booking request form, and does not guarantee a place on the course. The Adult Learning Team will check the availability of the course, and reply to you as soon as possible - usually within one working day.