When visiting any one of the numerous country estates across Britain you may encounter a crumbling pile of stones, irregularities in the landscape or even the empty shell of a building, the original purpose of which is now unclear.
Sometimes these ruined structures and remains are incorporated into the landscape, others may seem out of place and at odds with their surroundings. Many such ruins can be linked to the dissolution of the monasteries in the sixteenth century, others reveal evidence of former houses that have been lost to financial or political ruin and remains of defensive structures tell of past invasions and battles.
Finally, there are those that are built as deliberate ‘faux ruins’ which have been constructed as an intentional focal point to conjure up a sense of mystery and nostalgia. These ruins, in all their guises, have become an important part of our identity. They tell different stories to different audiences across time and can help us consider the sustainability of these structures into the future.
Greyfriars Dunwich, Suffolk (2025), photograph by Claire Kennan.
Funded by a Royal Historical Society (RHS) Workshop Grant and hosted by The National Trust at Scotney Castle, ‘A Workshop in Ruins’ was a two-day event in October 2024. The workshop brought together museum and heritage site curators, ecologists, art, architectural, and documentary historians. The aims of the workshop were to consider the changing uses and perceptions of ruins in and with their surroundings and the stories that ruins can tell. Workshop attendees each considered ruins from their individual areas of expertise.
One of the primary outcomes of the workshop was the development of a free online toolkit, ‘Interpreting Ruins in the Country Estate’ which is now available. The toolkit is intended for heritage professionals, academics, and those interested in local history and the landscape. It is designed to act as a springboard for anyone interested in or involved with the preservation, care, and interpretation of ruins.
Part One of the toolkit looks at the interpretation of ruins in country estates and beyond, how we preserve these ruins now and, how we can prepare for an increasingly uncertain future. In this section we have gathered several themes that emerged in the vibrant discussions across the two-day workshop: curiosity and discovery, storytelling, listening and transparency, human-centred and emotional responses, authenticity, temporality, ruins and nature, sustainability and conservation. Each theme is explored with thought-provoking questions and statements, accompanied by relevant examples and resources. The different themes are designed to be helpful for ruins in a variety of settings and some of the examples provided map across many themes. This reminds us that ruins exist, are cared for, and are interpreted in many contexts.
Throughout our discussions and in the planning of the toolkit, our defining parameters were:
- Engagement
- Inclusion and diversity
- Climate change
We have provided a range of suggestions, resources and further reading which touch on these issues. Part One of the toolkit also contains information on the ‘questions and concepts’ and ‘modes of communication’ that are core to contemporary interpretations. A Decision Matrix and guidelines for an audience interpretation plan are included at the end of the section, offering practical steps for creating interpretation plans and managing ruins.
The Old Abbey at RSPB Minsmere, Suffolk (2025), photograph by Claire Kennan
In Part Two, the toolkit explores how ruins have been interpreted historically. This section opens with a reflection on the concept of a physical ruin. This is followed by short overviews of different historical media including estate portraiture, Gothic literature, and poetry that were employed in the 18th and 19th centuries, with a particular emphasis on ruins in country estates. Then a summary of legislation enacted in 1913 to protect Britain’s ancient monuments is provided before a concluding commentary about the almost systematic ruination and destruction of country houses throughout much of the 20th century.
‘Raglan Castle’. Image credit: Samuel Ireland, Raglan Castle (1797), National Library of Wales, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
We hope that the toolkit will not only prove a useful resource but that it will encourage further conversations across the multiple sectors that are invested in preserving ruins, building a bank of resources and examples that can inspire and inform decisions about the care and interpretation of the ruins in our landscapes.
With thanks to the co-organisers and attendees of ‘A Workshop in Ruins’: Joan Coutu, (University of Waterloo), Rowena Willard-Wright (National Trust), John Bonehill, (University of Glasgow), Charles Bain-Smith (National Trust), Jerzy Kierkuc-Bielinski (National Trust), Sarah Mayfield (National Trust), Nathalie Cohen (National Trust), Simon Coppard (University of Greenwich), Susannah Elliot (Interpretation Consultant), Kate Retford (Birkbeck, University of London) and Graham Sparks (Birkbeck, University of London) with additional contributions to the toolkit from Indigo Dunphy-Smith (National Trust Scotland).
About the author
Claire Kennan is medieval historian and Honorary Research Fellow at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Claire specialises in the history of Britain between 1300 and 1500, with a particular focus on the social and cultural impact of the Black Death, the pre-Reformation parish, popular piety and medieval guilds. She is currently project co-lead for the £1.5 million AHRC-funded Inclusive Histories project and a Collaborator on the SSHRC-funded Environments of Change project.
Claire is also a recipient of an RHS Workshop Grant for 2024-25 which supported the ‘Workshop in Ruins’ project (October 2024)
HEADER IMAGE: The Ruins of Holyrood Chapel (Louis Daguerre), 1824
