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Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage. Vanbrugh 300 is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to develop a nationwide project that aims to broaden the awareness of Vanbrugh through special displays, free education programmes and lectures, throughout his tercentenary year in 2026.
As part of the Vanbrugh300 celebrations, Anthony Geraghty delivered a special lecture at St John's College, Oxford. The event was introduced by William Whyte and served as the inaugural lecture in memory of Howard Montagu Colvin, to whom Professor Geraghty paid warm tribute.
The lecture revisited one of the most remarkable moments in British architectural history: the emergence of the English Baroque around 1700. Looking afresh at the work of Christopher Wren, Nicholas Hawksmoor, and John Vanbrugh, Professor Geraghty offered new interpretations of their haunting and dramatic designs.
Exploring the philosophical principles that underpinned each architect’s work, he showed how the meeting of these powerful and distinctive creative minds led to the development of a bold and original architectural language that defined the English Baroque.
