To be able to devote time to the academic study of country houses is a real pleasure so, if you have the opportunity, below is a list of known courses offered by UK institutions. Page last updated June 2020
If you know of, or teach, any others please do let me know and I’ll add them to the list.
PHD
University of Buckingham
– ‘English Country House by Research‘
MA
University of Buckingham
– ‘English Country House 1485-1945‘ (assessed / non-assessed) – evening classes, based in London
– ‘Decorative Arts and Historic Interiors‘
University of York
– ‘English Building History (online)‘
MA – module (available as part of non-country house specific course)
University of Cambridge – Department of Architecture
– ‘Building History‘ with optional module ‘The country house and its landscape‘
University of East Anglia
– ‘Landscape History‘ (or part-time)
Undergraduate degree
University of Buckingham
– ‘History of Art and Heritage Management (2-year degree)‘
BA – module (available as part of non-country house specific course)
University of Derby
– ‘British Country Houses and their Families‘ (offered as part History degree)
University of Leicester
– ‘The English Country House and its Landscapes‘
– ‘The Country House in Literature‘
University of Warwick
– ‘From Fortress to Country House‘ (offered as part of History of Art degree)
Diploma
University of Cambridge, Institute of Continuing Education
– ‘Undergraduate Diploma in Historic Building Conservation‘ (1-year, online)
– ‘Undergraduate Diploma in History of Art: British Visual Culture‘ (1-year, online)
Certificate
No known courses
Other qualifications/non-accredited/short courses
Attingham Trust for the Study of Historic Houses and Collections
– Summer School
– ‘From College Library to Country House‘ (5-day course)
Nottingham Trent University
– ‘English Country House: History, Heritage and Symbolism‘ (two-week summer school)
Sheffield University
– ‘Literature of the English Country House‘ (multiple start dates)
University of Oxford, Department for Continuing Education
– ‘Country Houses‘ (one-week residential)
– The Culture of the English Country House (Online) (3-month duration, multiple start dates)
Archive of courses no longer offered
Manchester Metropolitan University
– ‘Rethinking the country house garden, 1750-1850: Creation and consumption’
University of Cambridge
– ‘Historic Environment’ – MSt
University of East Anglia – Sainsbury Institute for Art
– ‘At Close Quarters: The English Country House and its Collections’
‘History with Landscape Archaeology’
– Year 3 – ‘Landscape Special Study’
University of Exeter
– ‘The English Country House: History, Architecture and Landscape’ (Summer 2017)
University of Hull
– ‘Certificate in Country House Studies’
University of Leeds
‘History of Art with Museum Studies’
– ‘Museum and Country House Studies 1: The English Country House’
– ‘Museum and Country House Studies 2: Introduction to Museum Studies’
University of Leicester – Centre for the Study of the Country House
– ‘The Country House in Art, History and Literature’ – campus-based
– ‘The Country House’ – distance learning
University of Oxford, Department for Continuing Education
– ‘Upstairs, Downstairs in the English Country House’ (July 2017)
University of York
– ‘British Country House’
Cambridge offers an MSt in Historic Environment. It is mostly online. Here is what the site says…
What will I be studying?
The MSt provides a systematic understanding of:
•principles and policy governing historic environment protection and planning
•the management, practicalities, and main issues involved in monument protection
•the conservation and restoration of historic landscapes
•academic theory, concept, and current research
•training in research techniques in the historic environment and their application
You will also have the opportunity to undertake self-directed original research, under the direction of a University of Cambridge supervisor.
http://www.ice.cam.ac.uk/component/courses/?view=course&cid=3789
By the way, I would like to share your information on my site.
Thanks – I’ve now added it to the list. Please do make others aware of this list as I’d like it to be as comprehensive as possible. To save you having to keep checking for changes, it may be easier for you to just link back to this page (and I’d be grateful for a link to it anyway if you do mention it).
Thanks again
Matthew
MA on Jane Austen and the Country House in the West Country or something like that being written as we speak – at Bath Spa University.
Thanks Roberta – I’ll keep an eye out for that one; it’s an interesting angle for study. If you do see any details in the future please do let me know.
Matthew
Hull university dont do the country house studies course anymore
Thanks Nicola – I’ve struck it out rather than delete it just in case someone was looking for it.
Sadly, Leicester are no longer offering their campus based MA.
Thanks Liz – I’ve now refreshed the list. Seems there’s been a significant decline in the number of course on country houses being offered.