British country houses and Empire : a wider heritage picture

Abstract

The British country house, a treasured physical legacy of British heritage, has been called a ‘contact zone’ where cultures meet, clash and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power such as colonialism, slavery, or their aftermaths. Yet, British history is often ‘still imagined as being white’. This thesis is an interdisciplinary study of country house culture and empire. The way the British Empire is represented in history and heritage is important to a growing multicultural Britain. The efficacy of history rests on understanding how it affects people. Belonging and identity are tightly entangled with representation in history, and the representation of ethnic minority narratives is tightly entangled with the British Empire. This thesis involves British country houses in this conversation.

History acts and reacts. How history and heritage is operated in the real world are central to their continual evolution. Thus, this thesis is concerned with the forces that influence and are influenced by exclusion in the British heritage industry. It explores fields that heritage operates within, fields which, on the surface, may seem to have very little to do with history; news media, identity politics, traditions of representation, language, et cetera. The thesis ends by illustrating where the British country house stands in the minds of the British public and heritage professionals, and what affect this may have on ethnic minority communities in Britain.