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Doole, Megan Helen (2025) Revisiting the late-twentieth-century histories of an English country house estate: Wollaton Hall, Nottinghamshire. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the production of histories of individual English country house estates during the second half of the twentieth century through a case study. During this period, there was a foundational growth in new knowledge, both academic and non-academic, about various aspects of English country house estates and their owners and residents. The thesis study seeks to link the ‘possible wider influences of the time’ that acted on the practices of various types of historical researchers, to ‘history losses’ that occurred. This is done by ‘revisiting’ and close examination of the historic content of the main chronological histories of the ‘created place’ of the Wollaton Hall country house estate. New replacement and additional narratives are developed from various sources in addition to the estate archive, to enable comparison with the histories, and to illustrate the new history that it is currently possible to construct, 25 years after the last history publication. Different analytical themes and practice approaches are applied, which enables expansion of the connections between the owner-family (the Willoughbys) and the physical elements of the place of Wollaton, which increases the knowledge of both. The thesis concludes with acceptance that the study’s findings do support an argument that this genre of history, constructed at this time, could be affected by the ‘wider influences’ of the time, and this could lead to various types of ‘history loss’. Further, that different practice approaches can enable the generation of new and revised knowledge about historic places. This includes stronger interrogation of the histories developed in this time and, if possible, the archival sources that were used. This thesis can contribute to conversations by various historical researchers, including practitioners, about historical knowledge production, particularly for ‘created places’ and the landowning elite, English country house studies, and the research use of estate archives.

Item Type:	Thesis (University of Nottingham only) (PhD)
Supervisors:	Gaunt, Richard King, Chris
Keywords:	Wollaton Hall, Nottinghamshire, Nottingham, country house, Willoughby, Middleton, historical knowledge, histories, estate, Clumber Park,
Subjects:	D History - General and Old World > DA Great Britain
Faculties/Schools:	UK Campuses > Faculty of Arts > School of History UK Campuses > Faculty of Arts > School of Humanities
Item ID:	81741
Depositing User:	Doole, Megan
Date Deposited:	09 Dec 2025 04:40
Last Modified:	09 Dec 2025 04:40
URI:	https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/81741

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