Lost Mansions, 2015
Essays on the Destruction of the Country House

This provocative volume stimulates debate about lost 'heritage' by examining the history of the hundreds of great houses demolished in Britain and Ireland in the twentieth century. Seven lively essays debate our understanding of what is meant by loss and how it relates to popular conceptions of the great house.

1. Introduction; James Raven 2. Lost Aspects of the Country Estate; Jon Stobart 3. The Destruction of the Country House in Ireland, 1879-1973; Terry Dooley 4. Bowen's Court as an Aesthetic of Living: A Lost Mansion's Significance in the Imagining of the Irish Gentry; Ian d'Alton 5. The Loss of Country Houses and Estates through the Destruction and Obscuring of Identity; Barbara Wood 6. Better off as Ruins? The Scottish Castle Restoration Debate; Michael Davis 7. The Demolished Mansions of Essex and the Marks Hall Estate: Reconstruction and the Heritage of Loss; James Raven

James Raven is Professor of Modern History at the University of Essex, UK, and a Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge, UK. His books include Bookscape (2014), The Business of Books (2007), and Lost Libraries (2004). He is a Trustee of the Marks Hall Estate, Essex, and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.