Placement Details
Location: Attingham Park, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY4 4TP
Website: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/attingham-park
Duration: 3 months full time/ 6 months part time
Start Date: Flexible, to be decided between the student and the placement host
Deadline for Expressions of Interest: Friday 22 April 2022
Placement Description:
Attingham Park, built in 1785 on the site of an earlier house, is one of the greatest country house estates in Shropshire, and was in continuous ownership by five generations of the Berwick family until it was given to the National Trust in 1947. Its survival provides an opportunity to explore how these so-called ‘English’ country estates did not operate in a vacuum, but were part of a network of global connections, conversations and spheres of influence.
Our aim is to situate Attingham in a wider contemporary context, by exploring its more contested histories, specifically the family’s connections to the East India Company and the local Abolitionist movement via the Berwick’s social networks.
We want to gain insight into the web of conversations, views and opinions of the Shropshire and Welsh border socio-political scene of the late 18th to mid-19th centuries and how the Berwick family positioned themselves. We envisage that this will involve primary research into the Berwick papers and other family archives held at Shropshire Record Office, plus local newspapers/accounts of the period.
Skills, knowledge or experience needed:
Knowledge and experience in researching the colonial histories of the long eighteenth century.
Ability to conduct primary research and experience in accessing and navigating record office archives.
Familiarity with the historiography and up to date phraseology of colonial histories.
To apply:
To express interest in this placement, please email your CV and a brief supporting statement to training@oocdtp.ac.uk by Friday 22 April 2022.
