English country houses (fl. 1500-1900) means the country houses of the rich and powerful of England back before the rise of industry, back when land was power, taxes low and labour cheap. Some were just very large houses while others were outright palaces.
In the late 1400s, after the War of the Roses, there was enough peace in the land so the rich could live in houses instead of castles. These large landowners ruled England well into the 1800s. They held most of the top positions in government.
Even those who had made their fortune in trade, in high government office, in sugar in Jamaica and so on, used their wealth to buy a country house and plenty of land to go with it. Because in a country run by large landowners it was the safest and surest form of wealth and power.
The purpose of the land was not to farm it yourself but to receive rent money from those who did.
The purpose of the house was not just to have a nice place to live but to present an image of power: to those who rented land from you and to other rich and powerful people.
Your house not only showed that you had serious money but also that you had taste and intelligence and belonged at the top of society. Even things like the paintings on your wall and the books in your library mattered. A large house also made it easier to have important guests and throw big parties for hundreds of people.
Many had a townhouse in London too. London was the centre of government and business, so most who were rich enough to have a country house had important dealings there. Besides, some found the country deadly dull.
It was unwise to live only in the country or only in the city – since otherwise your interests would suffer in one place or the other. So most lived for months at a time in London and then did the same in the country. When they came to the country they would bring the latest fashions, hangers-on and maybe even a writer or a philosopher.
Before the 1900s working at a country house was a step up in the world for most people: not only was it reasonably secure employment but it meant nice clothes, a good bed and three square meals a day. A country house could employ hundreds.
Country houses were designed for a time of cheap labour and low taxes, when land was the main form of wealth. By the 1920s that world was gone. Country houses became too costly to run and pay taxes on and no longer served much purpose. Many were torn down. Most that remain have become museums, hospitals, schools, hotels and prisons. Only a few still function strictly as family homes.
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Thanks for this post. I love Jane Austen and period dramas, the most recent being Downton Abbey, for example. This is why wealthy characters move back and forth between the country and the city.
>>Before the 1900s working at a country house was a step up in the world for most people: not only was it reasonably secure employment but it meant nice clothes, a good bed and three square meals a day. A country house could employ hundreds.<<
Will you post on what relations were like between masters and servants in these country houses (ie; etiquette between the two groups)?
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If I ever did become much more successful than I am now I would like to get both a baroque country home as well as one in more of a Gothic style.
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Visited the childhood home of Churchill, ‘Blenheim Palace’, in London; it is ridiculously extravagant and beautiful…
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LOL! Reading the title I was imaging a cottage. Laughed out loud when I scrolled to the photo! Imagine losing your keys in that house. More like losing your mind.
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Although its not in England, I went to the Schonbrunn palace in Vienna back in 2007. Place was massive, it would be kind of scary living in a place like that all by your lonesome. It was pretty but too yellow on the outside. Nice park though.
If I had the money I would definitely go for a more Gothic theme. Something like Bran Castle in Romania, Vlad Tepes place 🙂 or Prague Castle. Those places are beautiful
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Abagond,
I don’t have a response for this particular post, but I must say you are absolutely BRILLIANT. Your observations about life, history, race relations, cultural issues and people in general are right on point. I dont know how old you are, but you must be wise beyond your years! Keep up the good work, and thanks for such an incredible blog!
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Abagond,
Pardon the O/T comment, but I just wanted to give you and your readers the heads up as to what REALLY went down with the whys and wherefores of my original blog being taken down. Just posted an open letter that clarifies everything and puts everything into proper perspective:
An Open Letter To Timothy “Prolific” Jones: The Sistahood’s Whiteknight, Or Useful Idiot?
http://obsidianraw.bravejournal.com/entry/60666
Remember folks, you heard it straight from The Obsidian’s mouth…
Thanks, A!
O.
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Hello Abagond,
I’m just here to say that you do a superb job in breaking down the dynamics of white privilege, class, gender, and racism in America and around the world.
Did you know that the white racialist group, The American Renaissance, is having their convention in multiracial city of Charlotte, N.C., next month? It’s already dividing the city along racial, religious, and ethnic lines. The head of Charlotte’s NAACP characterized Charlotte as being “a racist bastion” because of the school district’s refusal to close on MLK day as well as hosting the American Renaissance conference there.
What say you?
La Reyna
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I am not surprised. We both know how racist the Charlotte police are, for example.
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Your house not only showed that you had serious money but also that you had taste and intelligence and belonged at the top of society. Even things like the paintings on your wall and the books in your library mattered.
They still matter. Most of us don’t have huge country houses or even McMansiony houses, but people still judge others based on expenditure for housing and the way we decorate our spaces.
I admit snobbery about people who don’t have books, though of course that doesn’t mean they aren’t cultured/educated; they might read books from the library instead of having shelves full of books. (And it is funny that some posh people buy books by the yard purely for decoration, even today.)
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Let’s get behind the truth of the matter , alot oF this wealth was acquired threw exploitation , slavery, low wages child labour ,blood money, we are so quick to sing the praises and heap admiration on the absolutely wealthy, who ever bothers to ask or investigate how they came apoun all this wealth..Did it ever occur that… extreme wealth …..extreme measures to attain that wealth..I can’t admire the English for their grand houses and wealth , they colanised most of the world ,exploited it Then once they’d made a handsome profit they gave the countries back to the natives in much fuss an fanfare guises as “independence” and what,,where we expecting them to leave broke and empty handed .? So of course there going to end up with ggrand homes estates And trust funds , as anyone ever stopped. To think and say instead of praising and admiring their bounties, “well you know what, if I’d a raped exploited oppressed your people for generations I would also be be coining it an have cribs all ove the hemisphere adorned witth paintings and jewels. Why are we so quick to fore get and let history repeat itself, imagine generations after us admiring the houses and wealth accumulated during the apartheid era, every thing comes at a cost
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Were all the black mansions and legacies of wealth ..? You say they that’s how they made their .$ before the rise of Industry.slave trade .? Was a thriven industry, that sugar they traded , you know the one imported from Jamaica , whi planted. Harvested packed and produced it …? I don’t see those folk liven in mansions , I was in cape town south Africa last year ., and it’s. The same grandeur , the wine farms the estates and mansions the wine too, but what about the unknown legacy of this dynasty , the disenfranchised coloured folk rattled by drug addiction an alcohol abuse who inhabit the sidewalks steet corners and dumpsites of this “beautifull city” their forefathers toiled the felds of those wine farms and were paid in pap saks. Aka 5l boxes of wine , yes they were paid in wine , so a sign of wealth if you were paid in ,liqour would be that your whole family was drunk , even the 2 year old toddler , a sign of wealth , a drunk. Family ,. Trust me if those colored folk had been paid in books their descendants woul be some of the most learned petiole on thee continent instead their drunk , and all we can do is marvel at the bastards responsible for this ,accumulation of wealth , ,” your grandfather raped my grandmother enslaved my grandfather, damn is that a rolls Royce damn can I get a ride ……sure why not I been takin your family for one for generations .”
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Right, some of the wealth came from slave labour and child labour. The film “Mansfield Park” (1999), based on the Jane Austen book, made that point well, way better than Austen herself. In the 1700s a huge part of British overseas trade was bound up with sugar.
Some of the wealth also came from colonization and industrialization.
As to the land itself:
Much of it was taken by the Norman French army in the late 1000s and given out to top officers. They became the lords, earls and dukes.
Some was taken from monasteries in the 1500s after Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church. That is why you see the word “Abbey” in the names of some of these houses.
Yet more land was taken in the late 1700s and early 1800s when large landowners started fencing in open land that had been for common use.
That is my understanding of it. I am sure some reading this know the history way better than I do.
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