THE ANNUAL SOANE LECTURE
MADRESFIELD:
THE REAL BRIDESHEAD
by
Jane Mulvagh
Thursday 13 November 2008 at 6.30pm
At the Royal College of Surgeons, 35 - 43 Lincoln's
Inn Fields, London WC2
Romantic, turreted, ancient, Madresfield Court, with its one hundred
and sixty rooms, spectacular Tudor hall and medieval moat, has been
the home of the Lygon family for over nine hundred years. Beneath the
Malvern Hills, unmistakably English, it is a lived-in family home in
which sumptuous sits next to threadbare, the heraldic next to the domestic.
Over the centuries, the Lygons have played their part
in history. They were the inspiration and model for the doomed Marchmain
family in Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited: Waugh was a regular
visitor in the 1930s, one in a long line of writers, composers, painters,
royals and rebels who passed through Madresfield's doors.
In this lecture, which celebrates the publication of her Madresfield:
The Real Brideshead (Doubleday), Jane Mulvagh will speak about her
experiences of accessing this very special and private house, and the
treasures and secrets she explored. Drawing on a unique and virtually
unknown archive, she will illuminate a rich and dramatic history, from
the Lygon who conspired to overthrow Queen Mary in the Dudley plot,
to the scandal of William Lygon, the disgraced seventh Earl Beauchamp.
Jane Mulvagh read history at Cambridge, followed by
ten years writing for Vogue. Since then, she has written five books,
including Newport Houses (an architectural history of Newport, Rhode
Island, in America) and a biography of Vivienne Westwood. She has also
written for the Financial Times, The Art Newspaper and the Daily Telegraph
and has taught at Central St Martin's College of Art and lectured at
Oxford. Jane is married with two daughters and shares her time between
London and North Yorkshire.
The lecture will be followed by drinks at the Museum.
Tickets cost £10.00 (£5.00 to students) and can be bought
or booked in advance by filling out the form below or by calling Beth
Kingston on 020 7440 4254, or purchased on the door (subject to availability).
Name …………………………………………………….....................................................................................................
Address…………………………………………................................................................................................................
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………………………………
I would like ……..ticket(s) for 'Madresfield' at 6.30 on 13 November at the Royal College of Surgeons and enclose a
cheque for £………..payable to Sir John Soane's Museum and a stamped, addressed envelope marked 'Annual Lecture'.
For more information or to be added to the Museum's
email mailing list please contact
Bethany Kingston on 020 7440 4254. Email