TV historian to give guest talk on North's town halls

Dr Foyle, chief executive of the influential World Monuments Fund Britain (WMF), will address his audience on Friday, June 11 as part of the society's occasional celebrity lecture series.

The architectural historian, who is known to millions of viewers for his appearances on Time Team, The House Detectives and Meet the Ancestors, is currently making a series for BBC4 on town halls.

His illustrated talk, entitled Palaces for the People, will turn the spotlight on some of the 19th-century's greatest public buildings, including the town halls in Leeds and Halifax.

The WMF is the leading organisation for the protection of exceptional works of architecture.

Dr Foyle has been chief executive of WMF Britain since 2007. He was formerly assistant surveyor of Canterbury Cathedral, and then buildings curator at Hampton Court Palace and Kew Palace.

He has also taught at Cambridge University and gives lectures around the world.

For his new Scaling Britain series he will climb the exteriors of buildings such as St Paul's Cathedral, the Imperial War Museum North and Lincoln Cathedral to reveal their design, construction and role in the history of architecture and engineering.

Ripon Civic Society chairman David Winpenny approached Dr Foyle after watching a BBC television piece that he had filmed about pyramids in Gloucestershire – based on Mr Winpenny's book Up to a Point – In Search of Pyramids in Britain and Ireland.

Mr Winpenny said: "Jonathan is a great speaker and a real enthusiast for his subject, and we are very pleased that he is coming to talk to us in Ripon.

"With such a wealth of great and elaborate Victorian town halls in the North, his talk will certainly be fascinating and entertaining."

The talk takes place at 7.30pm on June 11, at Holy Trinity Church, Kirkby Road, Ripon. Admission is 10 (Ripon Civic Society members 8).

Tickets are available by post (with stamped addressed envelope) from RCS 2010, Victoria Villa, Princess Road, Ripon HG4 1HW. Cheques should be made payable to Ripon Civic Society. For more information phone 01765 607641.