‘Is it in Pevsner?’: A Short History of the ‘Buildings of …' Series - Charles O'Brien

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/LUyFLOUi-D4

This lecture traces the history of this famous series by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, starting from its conception in 1947. It describes the research and writing of the original forty-six volumes for England and the extension of the books to Scotland, Wales and Ireland. It then assesses their significance alongside a reflection on the 2024 achievement of the full updating of the English series.

This lecture was recorded by Charles O'Brien on 5th December 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.

Charles O’Brien FSA is Listing and Architectural Research Director at Historic England. Until 2022 he was the  joint Series Editor of the Pevsner Architectural Guides.

He graduated with a degree in History of Art from University College London before joining the series in 1997, where he worked fulltime on the research, writing and editing of the new editions. As author and co-author he has written the revised volumes to East London, Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire and Peterborough,Hampshire and Surrey. He is a former Commissioner of Historic England and former chair of their London Advisory Committee and has served as an adviser to government on local heritage. He is also a liveryman of the Mercers Company and member of their Heritage and Arts Committee

The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/pevsner-buildings

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