Past Events

Looking Ahead: The Future of the Country House

Conference

  • 12 to 13 October 2012
  • 9:00 – 5:00 pm
  • The Royal Geographical Society

The Attingham Trust celebrates its sixtieth anniversary with a conference considering the current state of historic houses and house museums across three continents, in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the United States and Australia. With the generous support of the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art speakers from each of those countries discuss successful current developments as well as the varying problems that each country faces – including the rapid decline of the traditional house museum in the USA, the attempts to preserve houses in the Republic of Ireland, and the developing role of the historic house in Australian conservation. The British country house is studied from the point of view of private and public owners including impressive case studies and depressing cuts in funding, and illuminated from an academic, curatorial and dramatic perspective, from Nikolaus Pevsner to Downton Abbey.

An architectural model of a castle

Model of Highclere Castle,

This conference is open to all (alumni and non-alumni) and promises to be a very stimulating event and we hope to see as many of you there as possible.