English Country Houses and Landed Estates


Book Description

Originally published in 1982, and based on extensive research in estates’ archives, this book outlines the changing fate of the 500 largest estates in England over the centuries. It examines estates in their heyday and looks at their changing role as they declined in the twentieth century, showing how some estates have survived and describing the differing uses to which country houses have been put.




The Story of the Country House


Book Description

The fascinating story of the evolution of the country house in Britain, from its Roman precursors to the present The Story of the Country House is an authoritative and vivid account of the British country house, exploring how they have evolved with the changing political and economic landscape. Clive Aslet reveals the captivating stories behind individual houses, their architects, and occupants, and paints a vivid picture of the wider context in which the country house in Britain flourished and subsequently fell into decline before enjoying a renaissance in the twenty-first century. The genesis, style, and purpose of architectural masterpieces such as Hardwick Hall, Hatfield House, and Chatsworth are explored, alongside the numerous country houses lost to war and economic decline. We also meet a cavalcade of characters, owners with all their dynastic obsessions and diverse sources of wealth, and architects such as Inigo Jones, Sir John Vanbrugh, Robert Adam, Sir John Soane and A.W.N. Pugin, who dazzled or in some cases outraged their contemporaries. The Story of the Country House takes a fresh look at this enduringly popular building type, exploring why it continues to hold such fascination for us today.




The English Country House Chapel


Book Description

This unique study shows how the aristocracy and gentry provided their houses with places of worship after the upheavals of the Reformation. Dr Ricketts makes illuminating discoveries, explodes deeply-rooted misconceptions, and shows how, by the end of the 17th century, and after many false starts, a new and more enduring form of private Protestant chapel had evolved as a fundamental part of the English country house. Before her untimely death in 2003, the architectural historian Annabel Ricketts had made the study of the 16th- and 17th-century private chapel her own. Under the editorship of her husband, Simon Ricketts, academic friends and colleagues have helped adapt her doctoral thesis for a wider readership without diluting its scholarly value. The study ranges across a number of disciplines - social, ecclesiastical, decorative, and architectural - and adds greatly to the understanding of the English country house.




The Fate of the English Country House


Book Description

As they grow more and more difficult to justify or maintain, English country houses have increasingly become "endangered species" in today's alien economic and political climate. In this book, David Littlejohn describes the past glories and troubled present condition of "the stately homes of England", both those that continue to serve as private houses and those which have been turned into museums, convention centers, hotels, even prisons. 49 photos.




English Country Houses


Book Description




Restoration England 1660-1689


Book Description




The Great Rebuildings Of Tudor And Stuart England


Book Description

Rural England's Great Rebuilding of 1570-1640, first identified by W.G. Hoskins in 1953, has been vigorously debated ever since. Some critics have re-dated it on a regional basis. Still more have seen Great Rebuildings around every corner, causing them to dismiss Hoskins's thesis. In this first full-length study of the rebuilding phenomenon, Colin Platt, an accomplished architectural and social historian, addresses these issues and presents a persuasive fresh assessment of the legacy of this revolution in housing design. Although accepting Hoskins's definition of a first Great Rebuilding, starting with the 1570s and ending in the devastations of the Civil War, the author argues convincingly for a more influential "second" Great Rebuilding after peace had returned.; In examining architectural change both in the buildings themselves and through the writings of discerning contemporaries, today's family house, whether in town or country, is shown to owe almost nothing to the Middle Ages. Instead, its origins lie in the increasingly sophisticated world of the Tudor and Jacobean courts, in the refined taste of returned travellers, and in a growing popular demand for personal privacy, unobtainable in houses of medieval plan.; This fascinating and challenging study of changing tastes marks an important contribution to our understanding of Tudor and Stuart society and as such will not only be welcomed by students and historians of early modern England but by the interested general reader.




Architecture Without Kings


Book Description

A general survey of what was being built in England and Wales during the Commonwealth years, 1642-60, using the career of architect Inigo Jones (1573-1652) as a framework to demonstrate the gradual move from rich chaos to dull order. Covers the stark churches, the emerging architects of the Puritan order, country houses, London, the universities, gardens, and four large regions. Illustrated with black-and-white photographs and drawings. Distributed in the US by St. Martin's Press. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR




The Country Houses of Shropshire


Book Description

A gazetteer of the many fine Shropshire country houses, which covers the architecture, the owners' family history, and the social and economic circumstances that affected them.




The Oxford Companion to Family and Local History


Book Description

The Oxford Companion to Family and Local History is the most authoritative guide available to all things associated with the family and local history of the British Isles. It provides practical and contextual information for anyone enquiring into their English, Irish, Scottish, or Welsh origins and for anyone working in genealogical research, or the social history of the British Isles. This fully revised and updated edition contains over 2,000 entries from adoption to World War records. Recommended web links for many entries are accessed and updated via the Family and Local History companion website. This edition provides guidance on how to research your family tree using the internet and details the full range of online resources available. Newly structured for ease of use, thematic articles are followed by the A-Z dictionary and detailed appendices, which includefurther reading. New articles for this edition are: A Guide for Beginners, Links between British and American Families, Black and Asian Family History, and an extended feature on Names. With handy research tips, a full background to the social history of communities and individuals, and an updated appendix listing all national and local record offices with their contact details, this is an essential reference work for anyone wanting advice on how to approach genealogical research, as well as a fascinating read for anyone interested in the past.