Research: Manchester Country House Network
An academic network for postgraduate students and scholars interested in country houses.
About
About the network
The Manchester Country House Network brings together experts from a range of disciplines.
Country houses are iconic structures of particular historical, architectural and literary significance, and have become important heritage destinations.
They are intensely political places, often with links to empire and always to global systems of trade.
Members of the network examine the significance of country houses from three main perspectives:
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architecture
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English literature
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history
As well as sharing research between members, the network also enjoys good links with external organisations, including English Heritage, the National Trust, the Historic Houses Association and the European Network for Country House and Estate Research.
current PhD projects
We host PhD projects with English Heritage and the National Trust on:
- early-modern country house gardens and mental well-being
- commensal practices in early-modern gentry houses
- work and leisure in the eighteenth-century garden
Details of current opportunities are listed on our study with us pages.
Past events
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Reading the Country House (2018)
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Houses of Politicians (2019)
Team
Network members
Lead
Members and specialisms
Architecture
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Dr Luca Csepely-Knorr: history of landscape architecture, especially the effect of country house gardens on the evolution of design theory
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Dr James Robertson: national manifestations of architectural design philosophies in the country house in Britain and Europe
English
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Dr Eleanor Byrne: slavery, race and gender in the country house
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Dr Emma Liggins: the British ghost story, 1850-1940; haunted heritage; Gothic architecture and gendered space; the figure of the domestic servant
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Prof Dale Townshend: literature and architecture in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; the Gothic Revival, 1700–1900; the country house in literature, 1800–present
History
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Dr Marie Molloy: women and the big house in the southern USA (including slavery); public engagement with National Trust properties in the North West
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Dr Rosamund Oates: early modern religious and domestic cultures; public engagement with National Trust properties in the North West
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Dr Jonathan Spangler: courtly elites in early-modern Europe, particularly the Guise family; European royalty
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Prof Jon Stobart: consumption and material culture of the English country house; physical and emotional comfort; links with European country house networks
Contact
Contact us
For general enquiries about the network, please contact its lead Prof Jon Stobart.
