Re-imagining the English country house: the impact of film and television representation of the English country house on the design, production and presentation of the 'heritage visitor experience'

The English Country House is a recognised setting and symbol in film and television, representing a myriad of concepts and nostalgia for the past. This thesis proposes that real country house sites and the English country house on screen are part of a greater English Country House (ECH) meta-narrative, wherein all country houses are seen as one archetypal English Country House. The ECH meta-narrative and its representation are commercially and culturally valuable to producers of screen-media and producers of country house experiences. Utilising both cultural studies and grounded theory research methods, interviews and site visits were undertaken alongside materials analysis to understand the relationship between the ECH on screen and the production of heritage visitor experiences. What emerges is an analysis of both the power relations between the entities and the actions of heritage producers in engaging screen representations in the design, production and presentation of the heritage visitor experience. The ECH meta-narrative contributes to knowledge a structure of the relationship between the on-screen country house and the real country house. This work contributes to the understanding both practically and theoretically of the management of the production, presentation and design of screen related visitor experiences at country house heritage site