Can 'a succession of' take a plural verb?

There are a lot of ..., etc

In those examples, the expression a lot of is being used as a quantifier. But lot is not the only word we can use like this. The same thing happens with expressions like a number of and a couple of, which are always used with countable nouns, and almost always take a plural verb, as can be seen in the Ngram graphs:

• There are a number of things we still need to do.
• There are a couple of eggs in the fridge.

Then there are expressions like a handful of, which can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns:

• There is a handful of rice left.
• There were a handful of people.

It's interesting to note the change in usage since the mid-70s.

Something similar happens with nouns like majority when followed by a verb, although admittedly we usually use there is/was, not there are/were before it:

• A small majority were in favour
• There was a small majority in favour

When acting as quantifiers, singular nouns can sometimes take plural verbs

But what about 'a succession of'?

Google Books

• "there is a succession of" - 3,620,000
• "there are a succession of" - 14,100 - 0.4%
• "there was a succession of" - about 1,470,000 results
• "there were a succession of" - 23,800 - 1.61%

• then there are a succession of flats until you pass the islands
  London Literary Gazette - 1831
• Again there are a succession of milestones—such as the abolition of the various physical punishments inflicted on an offender's body
  The Oxford Handbook of Criminology - 2007 Oxford University Press
• but there are a succession of specialty spots that pad out the thin storyline
  The Oxford Companion to the American Musical - 2008 Oxford University Press
• There are a succession of dinners in his honour
  Franz Liszt:The Final Years, 1861-1886 (Alan Walker) - 1997 Cornell University Press
• For every chapter of the Wake there are a succession of witnesses, as they are called: drafts, typescripts, proofs and printed versions
  The Finnegans Wake Experience (Roland McHugh) - 1981 Quantum (University of California Press)
• there are a succession of excellent viewing stations to investigate as the ridge
  Great Mountain Days in the Lake District: 50 Great Routes (Mark Richards) - 2008 Cicerone
• a succession of waves which can only take place when there are a succession of shocks
  The Popular Educator - sometime between 1858 and 1878 Cassel, Petter and Galpin, London
• where there are a succession of falls affording great water power, and on which several extensive manufactories of iron are erected
  A New Gazetteer of the United States of America (William Darby, Theodore Dwight) - 1833 Edward Hopkins, Hartford

Google Search

• "there is a succession of" - 33,400,000
• "there are a succession of" - 90,900,000
• "there was a succession of" - 94,700,000
• "there were a succession of" - 267,000

Wikipedia

• Where there are a succession of nectar sources throughout the summer season, a honeyflow may last for many weeks.
  Honey flow
• At the foot of the Causse du Larzac there are a succession of old terraces at around 50 metres (165 ft) above the ...
  Terrasses de Larzac

Conclusions

• It's not simply enough to say that an expression with a + singular noun must necessarily take a singular verb. We've seen that there are quite a few expressions like this that can and do take a plural verb when acting as quantifiers.
• So we have to look at usage, and see whether speakers or writers of Standard English in fact use expressions like "a succession of" with plural verbs. And the answer seems to be yes, some people, at least, do.
• Lastly, I think we have to decide whether it sounds natural in Standard English. And to me I think it does, although I'm well aware I'm skating on pretty thin ice here.

Postscript - A selection