Overview

Reinterpreting the country house: archives, interpretation and the histories of Wales

Landed estates were central to the lived experience of Wales from the later medieval period, through to the time of their mass sale and breakup in the early-mid twentieth century. Land underpins all human experience: the general ownership of land by the gentry made them a dominant feature in the life of Wales and therefore integral to understandings of Welsh society. The study of estates, however, is not restricted to the interests and identities of this influential landowning elite. Estates provide a multidimensional framework for analysing many people’s lives, experiences, and interactions – and virtually every aspect of Welsh history, across a multiperiod timeframe and between local, national, and global spheres. The evidence for analysing this complexity is vast and diverse; including the archives, records, manuscripts, and books generated or collected by landed families and estates, and a wide-ranging visual, material, architectural, landscape, and oral heritage. An emerging corpus of interdisciplinary research is gradually enhancing knowledge and understanding of these contexts; developing revised interpretations of Welsh history which are moving beyond the overly simplistic stereotypes and binaries of ‘good versus bad’, ‘Welsh or English’, ‘oppressed and oppressor’ attached to some earlier historiographical interpretations and public perceptions. Over the course of this module, students will engage with wide ranging themes over a broad chronology (although students will have the opportunity to focus on particular time periods). We will consider the significance of the country house as a focus for heritage and collaborative research.

Over the course of this module, students will explore topics that may include, but are not limited to: The country house today; Introducing the landed estate: Definition, composition and archives; Estates as Welsh society: People, place and community; The making of the Welsh landscape: Environment, buildings and land; Heritage interpretation in practice: Preparing your proposal; Country house collections: Objects, identities and display; Colonial connections: Imperialism, slavery and Wales in a global context; Intellectual culture: Libraries, learning and ideas; Women’s worlds: Paternalism, patriarchy and politics.

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

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

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

• Judge between competing interpretations of the 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.