The Country House: material culture and consumption
The Country House: material culture and consumption, Jon Stobart and Andrew Hann (eds), Historic England, 2016, 224 pages, 122 colour and black & white illustrations, hardback.
At first sight this looks like a coffee-table book, but the contents far outweigh the glossy exterior. The book records a conference at the University of Northampton in 2012, which was organised in conjunction with English Heritage, and with support from the Economic History Society. As the editors acknowledge, many books have been published on country houses, but this one differs by providing a collection of 19 essays on an area that is often overlooked, namely consumption. The essays are grouped into five collections.
The first five essays cover ‘Elites, consumption and the country house’, looking at the diversity of the ‘new luxury’, who the consumers were, and the demand and supply of these goods. ‘Continuity, heritage and the country house’ considers the show of wealth, and how ‘buying new’ was not always considered a polite thing to do. It explores the reasons why some houses were not modernised, which was not just due to financial reasons, as is often taken as the standard response.
The middle part looks at the influence of trade with the east, with a collection of four essays under the title of ‘Eastern connections, adoptions and imitations’. This discusses not only the nature of imports, but also how such articles had an effect on our architecture, interior design and social behaviour, the most obvious example being that of taking ‘tea’ in the afternoon.
Part Four covers the consumption of food within the country estate, how families settled into the new house, including choosing decorative schemes for new and existing buildings, and how music played a part in the social and cultural lives of the owners and their guests.
The last section examines the presentation of the country house, visitors’ experience and finally, in the context of Coleshill House, the estate that has lost its centrepiece. Here, the author Karen Fielder considers the problems presented to the modern-day visitor with interpretation and understanding of an estate where the house no longer remains.
The essays cover the period from the late 16th century to the Victorian era, each one providing responses to current questions around the culture and identity of the country estate, looking at their use and function, the demand for new luxury goods, how these were displayed for contemporary consumption, and how they might best be displayed to modern-day visitors. The authors, who come from a variety of backgrounds, challenge preconceived ideas about the architecture of the house and its social status.
It is a superb book, not only because of the quality of the illustrations and production, but because it provides new insights on the development of the country estate within the context of an increasingly materialistic nation
This article originally appeared in IHBC’s Context 150, published in July 2017. It was written by Janice Gooch, architectural historian and building surveyor.
--Institute of Historic Building Conservation
Find out more
Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
IHBC NewsBlog
Your FIRST FREE IHBC Xmas gift to colleagues
Tell them about IHBC’s Conservation Wiki – Our free digital digest for the development and construction sector.
CPD check-up and prize: ‘Who said that?’ – And what would you say back? FREE BS7913 for the best responses…
IHBC Chair at 2018 Heritage Day: A personal take and update
IHBC’s Chair James Caird attended the 2018 Heritage Day, led by England’s heritage link body, The Heritage Alliance (THA), and offers readers an update on his day.
IHBC raises objections in high-level Historic Environment Advisor Apprenticeship
IHBC has lodged its concerns and objections to current proposals submitted by Historic England's 'Trailblazer' Group to the Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA) for approval.
Latest IHBC Council+ corners the tables to see how best to deliver member services
IHBC has concluded the 7th Council+ meeting, the institute’s UK-wide forum for volunteers’ national oversight and development, which took place in London.
DesigningBuildings Wiki features IHBC Context celebrating 50 years of the TCPA
Tucked away in Part V of the Town and Country Planning Ace was a revolution in heritage conservation that Timothy Cantell has explored in IHBC’s Context.
UK Green Building Council has reported on the launch of Hawkins/Brown’s new tool to quickly visualise the embodied carbon of buildings at any point in the building lifecycle.
AHF - new partnership Heritage Impact Fund to be launched in early 2019
The Architectural Heritage Fund has announced the fund as part of its ongoing work to increase the levels of social investment supporting the heritage sector.
BRE and USGBC announce new partnership
Two built environment organisations have announced the first building quality and performance partnership of its kind partnering to raise global sustainability standards.
Civic Voice: Guidance tool for communities to identify local heritage assets
A resource developed as part of Civic Voice’s Big Conservation Conversation and their ‘Local Heritage List’ campaign.
Landmark - online archive of History Albums now accessible
Landmark’s History Albums is now available online making the detailed research undertaken on each Landmark digitally available to all.
Joint Committee on draft Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill
Call for evidence, closing 18 January, inviting views on whether the governance structures for the Restoration and Renewal (R&R) Programme are appropriate.
Updates on programme on planning reform in England
The latest version of the Planning Directorate Newsletter brings readers up to date with the England’s programme of planning reform.
Specialist contractors call for government regulation of the construction industry
The chairman of the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ (SEC) Group wants to government to set up a statutory authority to regulate construction industry practice.
Wellcome’s Living with Buildings exhibition on until to 3 March in London examines the positive and negative influence buildings have on our physical and mental health.
The economic value of culture - a benefit transfer study on museums in England
New research has been published to help understand the visitor and non-visitor value of cultural engagement at 4 cultural institutions in England – is this transferrable?
England - Open Doors pilot scheme closing 31 Dec
Government in England’s pilot scheme to match landlords struggling to find tenants for their empty properties with community groups looking for space.
RTPI to investigate strategic infrastructure planning
New research commissioned from University of the West of England in partnership with PBA (part of Stantec), on how strategic infrastructure planning is carried out.
Scottish Lochside House named House of the Year 2018
Lochside House, a breathtaking new home in the West Highlands designed by HaysomWardMiller Architects has been named the 2018 RIBA House of the Year.