Slavery and the British Country House

In 2007 English Heritage commissioned initial research into links with transatlantic slavery or its abolition amongst families who owned properties now in its care. This was part of the commitment by English Heritage to commemorate the bicentenary of the abolition of the British transatlantic slave trade with work that would make a real difference to our understanding of the historic environment in the longer term. The research findings and those of other scholars and heritage practitioners were presented at the 'Slavery and the British Country House' conference which brought together academics, heritage professionals, country house owners and community researchers from across Britain to explore how country houses might be reconsidered in the light of their slavery linkages and how such links have been and might be presented to visitors. Since then the conference papers have been updated and reworked into a cutting edge volume which represents the most current and comprehensive consideration of slavery and the British country house as yet undertaken.