Historic Houses, Global Crossroads

Historic Houses, Global Crossroads

Historic properties and their surroundings face serious challenges from climate change and a lack of diversity, as many see them as symbols of empire and exploitation. Without ignoring these histories, the Historic Houses Global Crossroads project is showing how these sites can be reimagined as places of global exchange—where people, ideas, and cultures have intersected over time. Moving away from a narrow focus on nations or family ownership, this project highlights the global connections between people, environments, material objects, and ideas.

We are delighted to be teaming up with an international research team and expert practitioners from across sectors to focuses on two of Northern Ireland’s most globally significant but understudied heritage sites: Clandeboye Estate, with its extensive, unexamined archives and artefacts, and Mount Stewart, one of the National Trust’s most culturally diverse sites. Through creativity, we aim to address the urgent need to make these places symbols of inclusion rather than division.

This is particularly important in Northern Ireland, where historic houses are tied to a legacy of empire, colonialism, and sectarian conflict. By exploring their histories in greater depth, we as a collective are uncovering the rich global connections they represent for the first time.

Find out more about this project here 

Supported by the Arts & Humanities Research Council