Consumption and the eighteenth-century country house
Submitting Institution
University of NorthamptonUnit of Assessment
HistorySummary Impact Type
CulturalResearch Subject Area(s)
Economics: Applied Economics
Summary of the impact
Country houses form a key part of our national heritage. As accumulations
of goods and windows
onto past lives, they are popular visitor attractions. Yet only recently
have they begun to be seen
as sites of consumption as well as artistic treasure houses. Research by
Jon Stobart and Mark
Rothery into the consumption practices and material culture in a number of
country houses in the
English midlands has: (a) heightened awareness amongst curators and the
public of the country
house as a site of consumption; (b) enhanced the role of academic research
in the interpretation of
the study houses, and has thus (c) enriched public understanding of
historic owners and their
houses.
Underpinning research
The research for this project was undertaken primarily through an
AHRC-funded project,
`Consumption and the Country House, c.1730-1800' (2010-11), supplemented
by the doctoral
research of two AHRC CDA students: MacArthur (2006-09) and Waugh
(2010-13). Leading this
research, Stobart (Professor of History, 2005-present) has challenged
traditional histories of the
country house by recasting it as a site of consumption. In doing so,
elites and their material culture
have been drawn into wider debates over consumption in a more thorough and
nuanced way. At
the same time, by placing them into a context of local and national supply
systems, they have been
integrated into the historiography of retail change, and social and
economic networks.
Based on detailed studies of a small number of houses in the English
midlands, Stobart has
argued that elite material culture involved a complex and often personal
mixing of old and new
goods — a reflection of the importance of family and heritance to elite
identity. He further argued
that the systems of supply that serviced elite demand were geographically
complex and often
highly specialised (1). Building on this, Rothery (research associate,
then lecturer, 2010-present)
and Stobart demonstrated that spending by several of the case-study
families was carefully
managed, thus challenging and revising earlier analyses that have
emphasised the spendthrift
nature of elites and the overweening importance of income to the long-term
viability of the estate.
They stress the role in this process of often-neglected parties, including
guardians and senior
servants (2). They also showed the importance of individual preference and
character in
determining the rhythm and nature of consumption. Stobart has utilised
this research to present
new insights into the spending of elite consumers on household goods and
consumables, such as
groceries, and the ways in which these goods were deployed within everyday
processes of
consumption (3).
The research has produced key insights that feed directly into
understanding and interpreting
consumption practices and material culture in the study houses. In terms
of sources and methods,
it has shown how the mundane items recorded in bills and room inventories
can reveal much about
the day-to-day lives of country house owners. Such sources can thus be
used to open up new
aspects of country houses to visitors; for example, the persistence over
the longue durée of
particular room furnishings. In terms of findings, the research has
highlighted the importance of the
everyday and also of characters previously seen as marginal to the history
of the houses. Two
notable examples are Mary Leigh, who has been brought out of the shadows
to take a more
prominent place in narratives of Stoneleigh Abbey (Warwickshire), and Sir
John Turner Dryden,
whose lavish lifestyle forms an important backdrop to understanding the
character and
consumption of his grandson, Sir Henry Dryden, the focus of the current
interpretation of Canons
Ashby (a National Trust property in Northamptonshire).
Overall, the research has revealed more of the everyday aspects of
country house life, often
hidden from the public's view in guided tours / media that emphasise the
great wealth and the
lavish lifestyles of the aristocracy and the gentry. The material on
suppliers is especially important
since it places landowning families into local and national socio-economic
milieus. At houses open
to the public and in the media we are often given the impression that
country house owners were
somehow separate from the locale, isolated in large landscaped parks. In
reality, they were firmly
embedded into the local economy.
References to the research
Research Outputs:
1. Stobart, J. `Gentlemen and shopkeepers: supplying the country house in
eighteenth-century
England', Economic History Review 64:3 (2011)
2. Rothery, M. and Stobart, J. `Inheritance events and spending patterns
in the English country
house: the Leigh family of Stoneleigh Abbey, 1738-1806' Continuity and
Change, 27:4 (2012)
3. Stobart, J. Sugar and Spice. The Grocery Trade in England,
c.1650-1850 (Oxford University
Press, 2013)
All these publications are part of REF2. Economic History Review
and Continuity & Change are
both A-rated journals; Oxford University Press is one of the foremost
academic publishers with a
rigorous peer review process.
Research Grant:
Jon Stobart, `Consumption and the Country House, c.1730-1800', AHRC
(AH/H008365/1), April
2010-December 2011, £165,000.
Details of the impact
The AHRC project incorporated at its heart public engagement through the
country house. This
has continued since the official completion of the project to generate
three key areas of impact:
1. Heightened awareness of the country house as a site of consumption.
Attention is refocused away from the country house as a collection of
treasured artefacts and
towards greater awareness of it as a product of the flow of goods and
services. Emphasis is also
placed on the ways in which mundane consumption practices defined the
country house as a site
for everyday life. This has been achieved via articles in the BBC
History magazine (July 2011 - S1)
and local history journals (S2), the extensive readership of which
adds reach to these connections
with non-academic audiences. More direct engagement with curators and
visitor managers was
created through a dedicated website (Consumption and the Country House,
October 2011 to date
- S3) and a major international conference organised by Stobart in
conjunction with English
Heritage (Consuming the Country House, April 2012 - S4).
The website provides a forum for a
broad range of people interested in the country house and the study of
consumption to exchange
ideas, information and opinions. It has created an international network
with over 70 members from
eleven countries across four continents, including representatives from
many different historic
house organisations (e.g. the National Trust, English Heritage and
Attingham Trust). The
conference attracted 73 delegates, over half being drawn from historic
house organisations.
Feedback was extremely positive, many delegates commenting at the time on
its importance in
creating links between academics and curators. Correspondence with
delegates since the
conference has highlighted the continuation of such dialogue and
connections, and their spread to
people unable to attend — an indication that its impact has been lasting (S4).
2. Enhanced role for academic research and approaches in the
interpretation of two houses.
At Stoneleigh Abbey attention has focused on Mary Leigh, who owned the
property for thirty years
from 1774, but whose position in the history of the house has been largely
neglected. An exhibition
mounted at Stoneleigh Abbey by Stobart (August 2012 to date) outlines her
changing consumption
practices and has placed her more fully into the narrative of the house (S5).
It has inspired the
house guides to create a new themed tour, `Her-story', which explores the
lives of various women
of the house (S5). This has enhanced the significance of the
initial impact of the research. In
addition, and linking sources used in the research directly to the
visiting public, Stobart has
produced annotated copies of bills and inventories for key rooms in the
house. These highlight the
impact on the house of Mary and her brother Edward, and have been used by
the guides as a
basis for telling different stories about Stoneleigh Abbey (S5).
At Canons Ashby, detailed research on Sir John Turner Dryden has
highlighted his significance for
the development of the estate. This has allowed him to be written into the
story of the house for the
first time (S6), most particularly through a programme of
story-telling (see below). Research on
room inventories, undertaken as part of Stobart's AHRC-funded research
project, has provided a
wealth of detailed information on the provenance of goods in the house and
on continuities in
material culture from one generation to the next. This forms the
foundation of a highly innovative
smartphone app., developed with Tom Murray of N-Vision at the University
of Northampton.
Launched in June 2013, and modified in response to initial feedback, this
forms an e-guidebook
allowing visitors to draw down additional information on key objects (S7).
As the Visitor Manager
notes (S6), the impact of the app lies in the way it changes how
and to whom the house is
presented: allowing interactive access to historical information without
recourse to room guides
and connecting particular younger visitors who are often hard to engage
with historical narratives.
3. Enriched public understanding of land owners and their houses.
At Stoneleigh Abbey, new interpretative leaflets (July 2011) and the
exhibition on Mary Leigh
produced by Stobart (July 2012) built on interest generated by his article
in BBC History magazine.
Initial feedback from visitors and house guides welcomed the provision of
more detailed historical
information, but suggested the need for more information directed at
children. As a result an `I-Spy'
leaflet was produced (March 2013). In all, over 1400 leaflets have been
distributed. Visitor
feedback, collected via informal interviews, has highlighted the
significance of the research in
shaping vistors' understanding of the country house (S8). Together,
the exhibition and leaflets
have: [1] made visitors more aware of the lives of neglected figures from
the history of the house,
especially women; [2] prompted a real interest in how country house owners
acquired and used
goods, and [3] given an insight into and appreciation of the historical
research that lies behind the
stories told by guides.
At Canons Ashby, a professional storyteller (Fiona Collins) drew heavily
on research by Stobart
and Rothery in a programme of storytelling based on the life of Sir John
Turner Dryden and his
wife Lady Elizabeth (July and August 2012). This proved highly successful
in engaging visitors,
especially children, by providing historical information in an accessible
form. Over 170 visitors
joined the storytelling and commented on the way that it enhanced their
experience of the house
(S9). In written comments, they highlighted how the storytelling:
[1] made history `come to life' -
communicating detailed research in a really effective manner ; [2] engaged
strongly with children
and got them interested in what they were seeing at the house, and [3]
linked historical figures and
narratives to artefacts in the house. The downloadable smartphone app was
utilised by over 200
visitors in just 4 weeks (July 2013). Its ability to extend and enrich the
visitor experience (especially
for children) is evident from visitor feedback, collected via informal
face-to-face interviews (S10)
and has fed into enhanced visitor satisfaction (S6). Visitors
reported that it impacted significantly
on their behaviour by: [1] making their visit more of an exploration
(navigating virtually encouraged
active engagement with the house); [2] making them look more carefully at
objects and think about
their connection to people, and [3] encouraging repeat visits and visits
to other properties,
especially by younger people — as one commented: "Where else is there one
like this?" (S10)
Sources to corroborate the impact
S1. `Through the Georgian keyhole', BBC History Magazine, July
2011 (circulation: 69,394 - see
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/node/47723)
S2. Stobart, J. and Rothery, M. `Merger and Crisis: Sir John Turner
Dryden and Canons Ashby,
Northamptonshire, in the late Eighteenth Century', Northamptonshire
Past and Present (2012)
S3. Website URL: http://consumptionandthecountryhouse.ning.com/
S4. Conference programme, delegate list and feedback
S5. Supporting statements from former and current Visitor Manager/Head
Conservator at
Stoneleigh Abbey
S6. Supporting statement from Visitor Operations Manger at Canons Ashby
S7. Link to e-guidebook app. for Canons Ashby:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Nvision.CanonsAshby&hl=en_GB
S8. Summary of visitor feedback on Mary Leigh exhibition and visitor
leaflets at Stoneleigh Abbey
(c. 20 informal face-to-face interviews)
S9. Visitor feedback on storytelling at Canons Ashby (c. 80 entries in
comments book)
S10. Summary of visitor feedback on the e-guidebook app. for Canons Ashby
(c. 40 informal face-
to-face interviews)