Georgian Group

The Georgian Group is an English and Welsh conservation organisation created to campaign for the preservation of historic buildings and planned landscapes of the 18th and early 19th centuries. Founded in 1937, the Group was originally part of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.

Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the poet and author Sir John Betjeman, Sir John Summerson, Robert Byron, the architect Sir Albert Richardson, and Sir Osbert Sitwell were among its most prominent early active members.

Since 1971, the Georgian Group has been a 'National Amenity Society'. The organisation acts as a statutory consultee in the planning process in England and Wales, when consideration is being given to proposals to alter or demolish listed buildings dating, in whole or in part, from between 1700 and 1840. (In Scotland the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland is the relevant statutory consultee).

Its present headquarters is at 6 Fitzroy Square, London W1, a large Robert Adam townhouse. Its extensive library and an important collection of architectural watercolours and engravings, the Pardoe Collection, are housed within its headquarters and are available for public examination by appointment.

Although it generally relies on the assistance of volunteers, the Georgian Group employs specialist regional caseworkers to undertake its advisory work within the planning process. Any member of the public can ask the Group for assistance in preventing the destruction of a Georgian building, although the Group's resources are limited. There are four casework regions: London and the South, Central and Eastern England, Northern England, and Wales and the English border counties. The caseworkers are responsible to a committee of expert advisors. The Group also publishes works on the care and restoration of Georgian buildings and interiors.

Recent senior caseworkers include Clare Campbell MA, Andrew Martindale BA, John Neale BA and James Darwin BA. Dr John Martin Robinson FSA is the present [2007] Casework Panel Chairman and is also, with Dr David Watkin (historian), Deputy Chairman. The Chairman is Lady Nutting OBE.

External links

* [http://www.georgiangroup.org.uk/docs/home/index.php Georgian Group Website]