Attingham Study Programme

The Norfolk Country House:
Collections and Networks

12th – 20th September 2013

THE ATTINGHAM STUDY PROGRAMME is a strenuous and stimulating nine-day course studying historic houses and their collections. Based in specific regions of Britain and often abroad, a wide range of houses, many of them private, are visited in the company of tutors.

The architecture, gardens and interiors, including collections of paintings, furniture and other decorative arts, are studied within a context of social and cultural history.

It is intended for museum curators, lecturers, architects, conservationists and others with a keen interest in the fine and decorative arts. Accommodation is in modest hotels where lectures are also given. Some full and partial scholarships are available.

The eastern wetlands and broad skies of Norfolk boast a landscape which was the inspiration behind the first regional School of painting in Britain, together with an array of classic country houses that few other English regions can equal. The county’s close proximity to London placed it in the pole position of England’s second city from the medieval period, until the coming of the railways reduced the centrality of its agrarian economy.The 15th-Century origins of the moated manor house of OXBURGH HALL and the privately owned Tudor pile of EAST BARSHAM survive today as testimony of the earlier period.

The focus of the 2013 programme will be two great Palladian houses still in private hands, both with magnificent interiors and furnishings by William Kent. The quintessential Grand Tour house, HOLKHAM HALL will feature seminars on the library, archive, silver, textiles and sculpture.We also visit HOUGHTON HALL, the country palace that Sir Robert Walpole controversially built to house his great collection of European master paintings and classical sculpture while based at 10 Downing Street as first minister successively to both George I and George II.This visit will also include seminars on paintings and textiles, visits to the private Picture Gallery and the contemporary sculpture within the park, together with the newly established gardens in memory of Sybil Cholmondeley.

The programme, based in the heart of the medieval market town and seaport of KING’S LYNN in West Norfolk, will also visit the city of NORWICH, and will include tours of the historic built environment of both centres, with their merchant houses and guildhalls. Seminars in NORWICH CASTLE will focus on Norwich Silver and the redisplayed Colman galleries featuring the paintings of Norwich School of Artists. The course plans to feature significant private houses, including RAYNHAM HALL, seat of the Townshend family, which also features the work of William Kent; and NARFORD HALL, home to successive generations of the Fountaine family.

2013 sees what must be one of the most important moments in the history of the presentation and display of the English Country house, when 60 European master paintings are returned on loan from the Hermitage State Museum, St. Petersburg, other Russian museums and the USA, for the recreation of the original picture displays in the parade rooms at Houghton. Sold by Sir Robert’s grandson to Catherine the Great in 1779, the return of the paintings, curated by Dr. Thierry Morell, represents a masterstroke by the present owner of the house, David, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley.

Enrolment and Fees

The cost of the 9-day course is £2,400.This includes tuition, shared accommodation, most meals, admissions and travel by private coach. Airfares are not included.There is a single room supplement. For more details, see application form. The cost in US dollars, including the handling charge, is $4,130.

Applications from the United States
Application forms are available from the website or from Cheryl Hageman, Administrator, American Friends of Attingham, 307 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1201, New York, NY 10001. E-mail: attingham@verizon.net

Applications from Britain, Europe & all other countries
Application forms are available from the website or from Rebecca Parker, Secretary,The Attingham Trust, 70 Cowcross Street, London, EC1M 6EJ; E-mail: rebecca.parker@attinghamtrust.org

Closing date for applications
To arrive by 1st March 2013. Applicants will be notified in late March at which time a deposit of £500 should be made. The balance of fees is due by 30th April without further notice.

Participants are strongly advised to insure against cancellation as no refunds can be made once a place has been confirmed.

Some scholarship assistance is available. Applicants will be asked to provide a short statement of financial need and letter of reference with the completed application form.

The Attingham Trust and American Friends of Attingham reserve the right to amend the Study Programme and to adjust the fees as these were assessed in October 2012. If necessary applicants will be informed by April 2013.

CHAIRMAN
John Lewis, OBE

PATRONS
H.M. Ambassador to Washington
The Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, KBE, DL
Professor Sir David Cannadine, FSA
Sir Timothy Clifford
The Lord Crathorne
The Duke of Devonshire, KCVO, CBE
The Hon. Desmond Guinness
John Harris, OBE, FSA
The Marquis of Lansdowne, LVO, DL
Sir Hugh Roberts, GCVO, FSA
The Lord Rothschild, OM, GBE
Coral Samuel, CBE

PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FRIENDS OF ATTINGHAM
E. Clothier Tepper

COURSE DIRECTOR
Andrew Moore, Ph.D, FSA

ADMINISTRATOR
Kate Morgan

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE ATTINGHAM TRUST
Annabel Westman, FSA

 

Applicants from all countries except the United States – download PDF Application Form

Applicants from the United States – download PDF Application Form

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