A la Ronde Symposium
Female Expression through Craft and Design in the Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Centuries
A hybrid conference inspired by the conservation, outreach and interpretation project at A la Ronde, Devon.
Thursday 11th July 2024 9:00am to 4:40pm BST.
The National Trust is delighted to announce plans for this Symposium, as part of the ‘A la Ronde: Conserving the Past, Creating the Future’ Project.
Intended to forge new bonds with researchers and academic professionals, find synergies with similar projects and properties, and to share stories and discoveries from our recent conservation work in a broader context, the Symposium will be offered in hybrid form, with presentations both in-person and online. We are hoping to hear from a wide range of external voices to bring context and new perspectives to our work. We welcome both returning and new contacts to add their voices to the conversation.
We are happy to receive additional offers of contributions, please get in touch to discuss.
Provisional Programme
Presentations will be delivered in person at Reed Hall, Exeter University and online.
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9:30am
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9:45am | |
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Morning Sessions |
10:10am Paper titles to include: The Ornamental Dairy at Croome: Ceramics, crafting and performance Transcultural-ism in Nineteenth-Century Mofussil India: Begam Samru and Her Architecturally Hybrid Sardhana Palace Taj Mahal Palace, a royal residence commissioned by Nawab Shah Jahan Begum (r.1868-1901), ruler of Bhopal Princely State in the British-ruled Indian Subcontinent |
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11:30am | |
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Morning Sessions |
11:45am Paper titles to include:
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1pm to 1:45pm | |
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Afternoon Sessions |
1.45pm Paper titles to include:
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3pm | |
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Afternoon Sessions |
3.10pm Paper titles to include:
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4:50pm | |
Bookings:
Price £35
To include a working lunch and refreshments through the day. Dietary requirements will be accommodated.
We want this conference to be accessible and enjoyed by as many interested parties as possible. To help with this, we have flexible pricing for this event.
How does it work?
When you checkout, you’ll be given a choice of 3 different prices:
- Concession – If you don’t have the cash right now, don’t worry; book this rate and let us welcome you with open arms, no questions asked.
- Adult in-person – If you can afford to, please book this rate; the extra money you give will go to our continued work at A la Ronde.
- Adult Online – If you are unable to attend in person, please book this rate.
Bookings can be made here: A la Ronde Symposium - Female Agency through Craft & Design in the 18th and early 19th Centuries | National Trust
Accessibility:
If you have any accessibility requirements, please contact harriet.squire@nationaltrust.org.uk.
Enquiries
Contact Harriet Squire on Harriet.Squire@NationalTrust.org.uk
Visit our Project Webpage: A la Ronde Project | National Trust
About A la Ronde
A small estate in Lympstone, Devon, this 16-sided house and chapel were built, and perhaps designed, by Jane Parminter and her young cousin and ward, Mary, around 1796, following their return from several Grand Tour’s of Europe. The house is now owned by the National Trust and contains the extraordinary decorative interiors designed by the Parminters. These include over 27 metres of friezes formed from feathers in the drawing room, patterned wall painting in the central Octagon room, and a Shell Gallery sitting at the top of the house encrusted with over 26,000 individual components, accessed by a narrow Grotto Staircase from below. The wider estate also contained a chapel, alms houses and school room for local unmarried women and girls, a manse, vegetable gardens and small picturesque landscape in the context of a ferme ornée. Mary’s will records that the grounds originally contained decorative features including a shellery, fountain, obelisks and seating
The Shell Gallery, Grotto Staircase, Drawing Room feather frieze, and Octagon have been recently conserved as part of a two-year multi-strand project, ‘A la Ronde – Conserving the past, Creating the Future’ which will culminate in 2024.
The project and Symposium are supported and funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund and the Wolfson Foundation, to disseminate the processes, investigations, and findings from the conservation.
If you would like to find out more about A la Ronde, visit: A la Ronde | Devon | National Trust
Please follow this link of a 360 tour of the Shell Gallery: 360 degree interactive panorama of The Shell Gallery, A La Ronde
Our partners
Inspiring, leading and resourcing the UK’s heritage to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the future.
Building excellence through support for education, science, culture and health.
Journey with A la Ronde
Over the next two years new spaces will be open for visitors to discover inside the house, sharing different and unexpected stories of residents through the ages, and create new experiences in the grounds, and also online. Working with local and regional partners, neighbours, community groups and volunteers as partners and contributors, we will improve accessibility, conserve the building and its intricate interiors, and develop new ways of sharing the fascinating history and intentions of the pioneering women who built and sustained this special place. How are we going to do it? We’re working with conservation specialists to secure the internationally significant interior including the Shell Gallery, Grotto Staircase, Octagon and Feather Frieze. This conservation work is the latest stage of A la Ronde’s ongoing restoration journey, with work already underway to address deterioration of the roof, chimneys and windows. We’re grateful for the generous support the project has received from visitors and from donors. The project has been made possible through money granted from the Wolfson Foundation, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the National Trust’s central conservation fund.
The Shell Gallery virtual experience
Open the door on an extraordinary creation and its conservation.