Slavery and the British Country House

by Andrew Hann (Editor)

There are few things more emblematic of England's heritage than the great country houses which grace our landscape. But such properties are not to be viewed simply as objects of architectural and curatorial or artistic interest. They are also expressions of wealth, power and privilege and, as new questions are being asked of England's historic role in the Atlantic world, and in particular about slavery, new connections are being unearthed between the nation's great houses and its colonial past. In 2007 English Heritage commissioned initial research into links with transatlantic slavery or its abolition amongst families who owned properties now in its care. This was part of the commitment by English Heritage to commemorate the bicentenary of the abolition of the British transatlantic slave trade with work that would make a real difference to our understanding of the historic environment in the longer term. The research findings and those of other scholars and heritage practitioners were presented at the 'Slavery and the British Country House' conference which brought together academics, heritage professionals, country house owners and community researchers from across Britain to explore how country houses might be reconsidered in the light of their slavery linkages and how such links have been and might be presented to visitors. Since then the conference papers have been updated and reworked into a cutting edge volume which represents the most current and comprehensive consideration of slavery and the British country house as yet undertaken. English Heritage is proud to be publishing work on which historians, educators and heritage professionals can all build to develop new understandings of this challenging and important part of our national story.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Race, 18th Century

208 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 2013

Reviews

[TM · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is currently available for free via the Historic England website - Historic England: Slavery and the British Country House

This book offers a wide ranging look at the links between the slave trade and British country house. A range of contributors have approached this from different directions, offering a varied and interesting read. Whilst one chapter might delve into features of a country house, how it was built, why etc. another chapter might examine past owners, where they got their wealth, the life they led.

It was interesting to see how country houses still exist as a visible legacy of slavery in places like Gloucester or near Bristol and how there continues to be ongoing debate in these areas. In contrast a place live Liverpool now houses the International Slavery Museum but the old country houses were long since removed, their lasting mark instead being a greater preponderence of green space around Liverpool than in other cities due to their removal.

This is a really striking work and a read will reveal plenty of interest about Britain's past.

[Becca Housden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book really interesting, as stated in the introduction, the relationship between country houses and the slave trade is a controversial and therefore often overlooked one. However, it is an important one, and this book does not shy away from that.
The case studies included are really interesting and cover a vast array of topics and properties. As a result they offer a fair overview of the subject.
I would have liked some wider context more consistently throughout the book, with some more comparisons and conclusions drawn from the case studies to the wider heritage sector. Some chapters did this very well, but others did not really situate their stately home(s) in the historiography as well as they could have done.
Overall though, I found the book to be an important study and helpful for my research.

[Samuel Goldberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

The latter articles are much more interesting than the former, delving deeper into to specific houses and connections as opposed to earlier articles which generally just read as biographers of the home owners.

[Emma Sea]

NTS: pdf in my Dropbox