Celebrating the Lunar Society during Birmingham Heritage Week
It was a busy – and very enjoyable – Birmingham Heritage Week 2026! The story of the Lunar Society was very much in the spotlight, with several events highlighting the Society’s incredible contribution to the city.
The Lunar Society gets involved
Our Honorary Secretary, David Searle, along with Head of the Aston University Archives (AUA), Dr Ilaria Scaglia, and AUA Archivist, James Platt, hosted ‘Heritage for the Future: From the Lunar Society to Aston University’.
The event brought together the history of the Lunar Society with Aston’s own heritage of education, innovation and technology. The audience heard some of the stories from the Aston University Archives, including those connected to James Watt, and discussed the links between Birmingham’s industrial past and how Aston University is helping to shape its future.
David also led two Lunar Society heritage walks around Birmingham city centre, exploring some of the places, people and ideas that helped make 18th-century Birmingham such a trailblazing centre of innovation. It’s always interesting to see how much of the Lunar Society story is still woven into the city, sometimes in places you might walk past every day without realising.
Other Lunar events
As well as the events put on by the Society, several other Lunar events took place during the week.
For one day only, Birmingham Museums Trust opened up Soho House, the former home of Matthew Boulton and one of the most important places in the Lunar Society story. The house has been closed to members of the public since 2022 so it was a rare treat for members of the public to step inside and learn more about the role Boulton, and his manufactory, played in Birmingham’s industrial revolution.
Legacy West Midlands also put on a Lunar Walk in Handsworth, exploring the places where Bouton’s life, work and innovations were rooted.
Finally, St Mary’s Church in Handsworth, where James Watt, Matthew Boulton and William Murdoch are all buried, put on an open day so members of the public could learn more about the church and its fascinating history.
Sharing ideas
The Lunar Society was fundamentally about people coming together, sharing ideas and collaborating across disciplines. Birmingham Heritage Week has been a great reminder that those ideas still have huge relevance today.
A big thank you to everyone who came along, asked questions, shared their knowledge and helped bring Birmingham’s heritage to life. And a particular thank you to Aston University, Aston University Archives Centre, Birmingham Museums Trust, Legacy WM and Birmingham Heritage Week for helping make such a fantastic week possible.