Over a time span of five hundred years the great medieval cathedrals of England were built. In terms of resources called upon, space covered, design and craftsmanship employed, this period marks the greatest single architectural achievement in English history. From Durham to Gloucester the lecture follows the evolution of cathedral building with particular reference to structural and aesthetic details together with some of the fascinating figures and events behind them – portraits in stone as rich as a great East Window. 

Mark was born on the Isles of Scilly, educated at Truro School in Cornwall and graduated from Birmingham University with an MA in Late Medieval Society and Culture. He has spent the whole of his career, at home and abroad, teaching and lecturing in Further and Higher Education.

We are delighted to welcome Mark back to Honiton, he has talked to us about the amazing angel hammer beam roofs in East Anglian churches and about english miniaturists.

Mark has said that the older he becomes, the more convinced he is of the importance of The Arts Society and the values it upholds and says, "I am proud to be a part of this unique organization". 

Kyffin Williams (1918-2006) was born on Anglesey and attended the Slade School of Art. After some years of teaching he devoted himself entirely to painting, and developed a very personal style of painting using a palette knife and thick paint. He loved Wales, its mountains, its coast, and its people.

Formerly Senior Lecturer and Head of Department at Croydon College of Art, Julian has published widely on painters and paintings and has been a member of the Royal Society of British Artists since 1994. He was last with us in Honiton in February 2024 when he talked about impressionistic paintings of snow.

During Antony Gormley’s long career, he has made sculpture that explores the relationship of the human body to space.  His work has been shown in galleries throughout the world, but also often on open display, as public art. 

With degrees from Goldsmith’s and Birkbeck Colleges, Rosalind is a guide at Tate Britain, Tate Modern and the Royal Academy, and lectures widely. She was last with us in Honiton in February 2025 when she talked about Wassily Kandinsky.

Founded in 1919 in Weimar, the Bauhaus under its director Walter Gropius was a progressive art school for its 14 years. This talk looks at some of the movers and shakers behind this hugely influential movement, as well as exploring their legacy in our world and homes today. 

Gavin is a writer and broadcaster, and lectures widely about the culture of Central Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries.  We are very pleased to welcome him back, he was last with us in January 2026 when he talked about John Singer Sargent: The Private Radical.

So many of our historical references for musical instruments can be found in works of art, which show us what the instruments looked like, the social context in which they would have been played, and their strong symbolic role.

Sophie is well-known for her prowess on a variety of early woodwind instruments.  She also makes instruments (she made her own baroque oboe) and plans to bring some with her.

Whistler scandalised London society during the 1870's. American by birth, he trained as an artist in Paris where his bohemian lifestyle made him one of the city’s personalities, but he found the English even more opposed to his ideas. 

A Cambridge graduate in Fine Art, Douglas has been a lecturer on paintings since 1980, since when he has given over 8000 lectures, written and presented many TV documentaries.  He has spoken to us in Honiton about art in Prague, and David Hockney, he was last with us in March 2023.

Merchants of the Dutch Golden Age filled their town houses with paintings, rejecting biblical subjects and Baroque melodrama, and favouring themes closer to home. Is there more to these realistic paintings than meets the eye? 

Lynne trained as a fine artist and has taught painting, drawing and printmaking in higher and adult education.

A journey around some of the most evocative and splendid stations in the world, looking at the magnificence of the architecture and brilliant engineering, discovering numerous artworks within the stations and depictions of stations in art.  It may sound a bit anoraky, but it’s definitely not. 

A Londoner with a contagious enthusiasm for art and architecture, Ian is an official guide at many London galleries, a London tour guide, and a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Art Scholars, one of the City livery companies. He talked to us about The World of Grayson Perry in November 2023.

This lecture focuses on the costume and dress accessories that would have been worn for formal occasions (Regulated Court Costume), or informally, at the Imperial Court or in Provincial Government during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Whilst living and working in East Asia, David assembled a collection of approximately 700 Imperial and related textiles/costume accessories. He brought a collection of costumes and shared them with us in March 2022.

He has offered to talk about any Chinese objects of interest which members want to bring after the lecture.