Overview

Topics explored over the course of the module may include, but will not be limited to: social mobility and the open elite debate; the architecture of the country house; landscaping, gardens and parks; the role of elite women; the country house childhood; servants; estate management; public and political duties; philanthropy and charity; religious and moral values; leisure and recreation; the decline of the country house; the country house in popular culture; heritage, tourism and the country house.

Assessment Strategy

-threshold -Threshold (C- to C+). Students in this band will demonstrate a satisfactory range of achievement or depth of knowledge of most parts of the module, and will make successful, if occasionally inconsistent, attempts to develop those skills appropriate to the study of History at PGT level. In the case of the written assessments, the answers will attempt to focus on the question, although might drift into narrative, and will show some evidence of solid reading and research. The argument might lose direction and might not be adequately clear at the bottom of this category. Written work will be presented reasonably well with only limited errors in grammar, punctuation, and referencing, and not to the extent that they obscure meaning.

-good -Merit (B- to B+) students will demonstrate a solid level of achievement and depth of knowledge in all the criteria in the Pass (C- to C+) range, and will in addition exhibit constructive engagement with different types of historical writing and historiographical interpretation. Ideas will be communicated effectively and written work will include a good range of sources/reading and demonstrate a clear understanding of the issues and of the existing interpretations expressed in a well-structured, relevant, and focused argument. Students at the top end of this band will engage with and critique the ideas that they come across, and synthesise the various interpretations they find to reach their own considered conclusions. Written work will be correctly presented with references and bibliography where appropriate.

-excellent -Students achieving Distinction grades (A- and above) will show strong achievement across all the criteria combined with particularly impressive depths of knowledge and/or subtlety of analysis. In written work, they will support their arguments with a wealth of relevant detail/examples. They will also demonstrate an acute awareness of the relevant historiography and give an account of why the conclusions reached are important within a particular historical debate. They may show a particularly subtle approach to possible objections, nuancing their argument in the light of counter-examples, or producing an interesting synthesis of various contrasting positions. Overall, the standards of content, argument, and analysis expected will be consistently superior to top upper-second work. Standards of presentation will also be high.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate a close familiarity with primary sources concerning the British country house from 1750 to the present day, and the ability to analyse these sources and use them in historical arguments

• Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the British country house, and its wider socio-economic and political context within society from 1750 to 1914.

• Judge between competing interpretations of the British country house and its context, and the current state of the historiography, and closely analyse these interpretations.

• Present clear, evidence-based, and cogent historical arguments on aspects of the subject.

• The ability to analyse individual pieces of historical evidence closely i.e. setting them in context, judging their qualities as evidence, and explaining their significance