VIRTUAL ISTANBUL HERITAGE(S)

Abstract

This paper speaks to the theme of Socio-Cultural Studies, considering five properties in the ownership of the National Trust in the southwest of England: Buckland Abbey, Compton Castle, Greenway House, Saltram and Shute Barton. These are places connected to early European settlement of North America, and therefore to the foundations of the British empire. They are sites that generated, benefitted from and, in some cases, were saved because of, their role in the societal construction of national identity. They demonstrate the importance of place and prominent individuals within that process. They are spaces where national and personal myth making can be recognised and explored and where global histories of increasingly diverse national and local communities entwine through collections, buildings and memory. Rich in intangible heritage but with histories often invisible in building fabric or collections, our case studies demonstrate how connectivity is hampered by later phases of occupation. We will discuss how historical narratives are obscured through the presentation of houses and estates for use by visitors in the present and the consequences of such loss. We will explore the opportunities associated with presenting such sites examining them as places where a sense of self and the myth-building that constructs nationhood can be challenged and explored through the materiality of buildings and collections and the intangibility of imagination and curatorial communication. We will look to the future role and purpose of historic house collections as part of global historical debates, as places of community connection and cultural meeting points.