ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests some of the research questions that a comprehensive study of country house technology could illuminate, including the social use of space and changing interactions between the social groups who inhabited that space. Greater understanding of the role played by technology in running and managing houses and estates would help the owners of country houses estates whether in private hands or the ownership of bodies such as the National Trust or English Heritage with issues of conservation and interpretation. Given the demonstrable value of the country house as a microcosm of rural society before the 20th century, understanding the implications of technological innovation within it will also help to illuminate the progress of social change on a much wider scale. Documents have to be treated critically and to be scrutinised for the unintentional meanings and information which can be derived from them.
