Media

30th May 2026

Rome Under a Yorkshire Sky

This insightful article by Matthew Wood focuses on Vanbrugh designing his first architectural commission, Castle Howard.

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16th May 2026

The Radical Beginner: Vanbrugh's First Masterpiece

This VANBRUGH300 newsletter focuses on upcoming events at Castle Howard, newly released symposium recordings, and the launch of the Free Lecture Series celebrating Sir John Vanbrugh’s life and legacy.

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16th May 2026

The New Tapestry Drawing room at Castle Howard

This insightful article by Francis Terry focuses on a completely new architectural treatment to a room which was destroyed by fire in 1940.

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12th May 2026

Celebrating Sir John Vanbrugh on Front Row

Radio 4's Front Row celebrates Sir John Vanbrugh, speaking to Sir Charles Saumerez Smith and Rory Fraser.

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2nd May 2026

YPOM - The Story of Stowe House

This episode explores the story of Stowe House, a school of marble and memory.

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Vanbrugh's Rotunda at Stowe ©National Trust Images Hugh Mothersole

2nd May 2026

Vanbrugh300 Free Lecture Series

This VANBRUGH300 newsletter introduces the Free Lecture Series, a programme of talks, panel discussions, and in-conversation events held across six of Sir John Vanbrugh’s most celebrated buildings.

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21st Apr 2026

Dr Annette Rubery Reviews the Soane Vanbrugh Exhibition

Dr Annette Rubery reviews the Soane Vanbrugh Exhibition, closing on 28 June - don’t miss this free exhibition in the heart of London.

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18th Apr 2026

Jools Holland on John Vanbrugh: Life, Legacy and Music

Jools Holland was joined by architectural historian Sir Charles Saumarez Smith to explore the life and work of the 18th-century architect and playwright John Vanbrugh, marking 300 years since his death. The programme also featured music connected to Vanbrugh, including pieces by Purcell, Cavalli, and Handel.

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18th Apr 2026

Vanbrugh: Rockstar of the English Baroque

This VANBRUGH300 newsletter explores Vanbrugh: Rockstar of the English Baroque, a new multi-site exhibition celebrating Sir John Vanbrugh’s life, influences, and patronage networks. It highlights educational initiatives, including the national schools programme, and looks ahead to upcoming events such as the Blenheim Palace Vanbrugh300 weekend.

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18th Apr 2026

Vanbrugh and the Kit-Cat Club

This insightful article by Ophelia Field focuses on John Vanbrugh and the Kit-Cat Club.

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4th Apr 2026

Seaton Delaval Hall Celebrates VANBRUGH300

This VANBRUGH300 newsletter reflects on the launch weekend at Seaton Delaval Hall, celebrating John Vanbrugh’s architectural and theatrical legacy through community performances, projection art, and family activities. It also highlights recent commemorative events and looks ahead to upcoming anniversary programmes.

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28th Mar 2026

Northern Butterflies perform at Seaton Delaval Hall

Northern Butterflies explored the life and work of Sir John Vanbrugh through drama, imagination and play, culminating in their own original performance at Seaton Delaval Hall's V300 Weekend.

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27th Mar 2026

Vanbrugh: From Stage to Stone Symposium

Vanbrugh: From Stage to Stone was an academic symposium held in partnership with The Georgian Group and the Ax:son Johnson Centre for the Study of Classical Architecture, taking place at Downing College, Cambridge, on 27 March 2026.

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26th Mar 2026

Choral Evensong commemorating Sir John Vanbrugh

Choral Evensong to mark the 300th anniversary of Sir John Vanbrugh's death on 26th March 2026.

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26th Mar 2026

Vanbrugh300 on BBC Radio 4's Today show

The Today show marked the launch of Vanbrugh300 on 26 March, commemorating 300 years since the death of the visionary architect and playwright Sir John Vanbrugh.

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25th Mar 2026

Vanbrugh and his Time

Explore how Marlborough College is marking Vanbrugh300 with a dedicated programme examining his life, work, and wider cultural context.

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24th Mar 2026

Country Life: Vanbrugh with Dr John Goodall

Vanbrugh, Castle Howard, and iconic buildings destroyed in the flames

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21st Mar 2026

Staging Vanbrugh

This VANBRUGH300 newsletter focuses on John Vanbrugh’s theatrical legacy and its connection to performance today. It features Annette Rubery’s article on The Country House, highlights community and family performances at Seaton Delaval Hall, previews a special evening of Vanbrugh’s work at Grimsthorpe Castle, and outlines a wide-ranging programme of upcoming anniversary events.

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21st Mar 2026

John Vanbrugh's farce The Country House

This insightful article by Dr Annette Rubery focuses on John Vanbrugh's farce The Country House, exploring its plot and Vanbrugh's progression from playwright to architect.

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7th Mar 2026

Laughter, Scandal and the Restoration Stage

This Vanbrugh300 newsletter explores John Vanbrugh’s theatrical career and enduring cultural influence. Featuring an article by Annette Rubery on Vanbrugh as a bold Restoration playwright, it also highlights his continuing presence on screen through Bridgerton, a recent lecture on the architects of the English Baroque, and the new exhibition Vanbrugh: The Drama of Architecture at Sir John Soane’s Museum.

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7th Mar 2026

John Vanbrugh, the Playwright

This insightful article by Dr Annette Rubery focuses on Vanbrugh as a playwright, exploring the daring brilliance of his comedies and the theatrical world that shaped them.

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28th Feb 2026

Vanbrugh300 Festival in the National Press

Over the weekend, we were delighted to see fantastic coverage of the Vanbrugh300 festival, with features in The Times, The Spectator, and The Arts Society Magazine.

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24th Feb 2026

Wren, Vanbrugh, and Hawksmoor: The Minds that Made the English Baroque

This lecture revisits one of the most remarkable moments in British architectural history: the emergence of the English Baroque around 1700. Looking afresh at Sir Christopher Wren, Nicholas Hawksmoor, and Sir John Vanbrugh, Professor Geraghty offers compelling new interpretations of their haunting and dramatic designs.

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21st Feb 2026

Blueprints of Power at Blenheim Palace

This Vanbrugh300 newsletter launches a year-long exploration of Sir John Vanbrugh’s great houses, beginning with Blenheim Palace and its new exhibition, Blueprints of Power. The exhibition explores Vanbrugh’s genius, ambition, rivalries, and dramatic partnership with Sarah Churchill, 1st Duchess of Marlborough, combining immersive storytelling with rare archival material and costumes from The Favourite (2018).

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18th Feb 2026

Kimbolton Students Explore Architectural Legacy

As a partner house of the Vanbrugh300 festival, Kimbolton is using its historic setting to inspire students to explore Sir John Vanbrugh’s architectural legacy. Through participation in the National Gallery’s Articulation Prize, pupils have researched, analysed and presented on Vanbrugh’s work and wider artistic themes, connecting national heritage with their own school environment.

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16th Feb 2026

From Bastille to Blenheim

This extended article explores Vanbrugh’s creation of Blenheim, where his genius came with challenges of fierce rivalries, political intrigue and personal conflicts.

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14th Feb 2026

Exclusive Insight: Blueprints of Power at Blenheim Palace

Exclusive insight from Blenheim Palace’s Carmen Alvarez, Collections and Conservation Manager, and Isabelle Thom, Deputy Collections Manager on their new exhibition Blueprints of Power about Vanbrugh.

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9th Feb 2026

Vanbrugh in the Times

An article in The Times recently covered Vanbrugh's Buildings as Theatre and an upcoming exhibition at the Sir John Soane Museum

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9th Feb 2026

The Making of a Maverick

This extended article explores Vanbrugh’s early life, tracing his experiences as a maverick, soldier, spy, and prisoner, to reveal how these formative years helped shape one of Britain’s most distinctive architectural voices.

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7th Feb 2026

The Making of a Maverick

This Vanbrugh300 newsletter explores Sir John Vanbrugh’s early life and formative experiences through a feature article, introduces a new interactive timeline, highlights recent festival events and lectures on his plays, and shares updates and upcoming activities within the nationwide 2026 celebration programme.

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5th Feb 2026

Cambridge Edition on Kimbolton

The Cambridge Edition recently covered Vanbrugh 300 in their February edition, highlighting Kimbolton Castle’s inclusion in its culture section.

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3rd Feb 2026

Countryfile: The Blenheim Estate

A Countryfile episode on the 'Blenheim Estate' highlights Vanbrugh’s vision for the palace and examines how the building is being conserved 300 years after its creation.

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26th Jan 2026

A Genius of the First Class

To mark the tercentenary of Sir John Vanbrugh’s death, Charles Saumarez Smith considers the changing reactions to one of his greatest creation, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.

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24th Jan 2026

Welcome to VANBRUGH300

The first Vanbrugh300 newsletter introduces the nationwide festival marking 300 years since Sir John Vanbrugh’s legacy, outlining his remarkable life as architect, playwright, and political figure, and previewing a year-long programme of exhibitions, events, and educational initiatives across six major houses.

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22nd Dec 2025

John Vanbrugh: The Drama of Architecture

Charles Saumarez Smith discusses his new biography of the English baroque architect Sir John Vanbrugh.

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11th Dec 2025

Kimbolton Castle to feature in Vanbrugh 300 celebration of architect’s work

Cambridge Network reports on Vanbrugh300.

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1st Dec 2025

YPOM - Charles Saumarez Smith

Charles Saumarez Smith speaks to 'Your Places or Mine' and John Goodall on the architect John Vanburgh.

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20th Nov 2025

Machine Books: Charles Saumarez Smith

Charles Saumarez Smith speaks to Machine Books about his latest fascination, the life and works of the great British baroque architect John Vanburgh.

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View across the Octagon Lake towards Vanbrugh's Lake Pavilions and Corinthian Arch ©National Trust Images Rod Edwards (1)

29th Oct 2025

From curtain to cornice: The Genius of Sir John Vanbrugh

thedirt.news reports on Vanbrugh300.

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21st Oct 2025

John Vanbrugh and the Art of Client Management

In this talk, Christine Stevenson investigates the ways in which Vanbrugh persuaded clients that boldness and unorthodoxy were the most economical routes to displays appropriate to their status.

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14th Oct 2025

John Vanbrugh: The Critical Response

In this talk, Charles Saumarez Smith looks at changes to Vanbrugh's reputation ahead of his forthcoming book, John Vanbrugh: The Drama of Architecture.

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18th Sep 2025

A is for Architecture: John Vanbrugh

Charles Saumarez Smith speaks to A is for Architecture about John Vanbrugh and Building as Theatre.

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5th Aug 2025

VANBRUGH300: A year-long celebration of England’s boldest Baroque architect

ianVisits reports on Vanbrugh300.

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5th Jun 2025

YPOM - Castle Howard: Vanbrugh's Palace Redisplayed

This episode explores Castle Howard as one of Sir John Vanbrugh’s architectural masterpieces, tracing how the celebrated playwright turned architect brought bold imagination and theatrical flair to the design of the great domed house - one of the most iconic examples of Baroque architecture in Britain.

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8th Apr 2024

The Country House Podcast: Sir John Vanbrugh

Sir John Vanbrugh: The Greatest English Country House Architect?

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19th Oct 2022

The Provoked Wife Audiobook

This Restoration Comedy follows Lady Brute as she decides whether or not to cuckold her coarse and unloving husband. Not as brash and farcical as Vanbrugh's earlier play "The Relapse," "The Provoked Wife" comments on society and matrimony in a surprisingly modern way.

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20th Aug 2019

Vanbrugh nominated on Great Lives

Caroline Quentin nominates Sir John Vanbrugh on Radio 4's Great Lives. Listen on BBC Sounds.

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16th Dec 2015

The Provoked Wife

This film was made at the opening performance of a production of the play, directed by Professor Michael Cordner and Dr Tom Cantrell, in June 2014, on the main stage of the Department of Theatre, Film and Television, University of York.

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