Indigenous Plant Stories in an English Treasure House
Resource type
Journal article
Creator (person)
Pratt, Stephanie
Working, Lauren
Date published
October 7, 2025
Abstract
In 2023, the National Trust held a workshop at Knole as part of their ‘Translating the Language of Empire: Visible and Invisible Indigenous American Histories in Historic Houses’ project. Of the houses discussed that day, something about the courtyards and corridors of Knole gripped us. Walking through the house, the Indigenous presence seemed well and truly absent; but as we delved into its transatlantic connections, we began to think about this house as a salient site for researching the impact and traces of Indigenous peoples and colonial spaces on English spheres of power. In this piece, we share some of the early stages of our research into Knole’s links to the Americas. In the second section, we offer a dialogue about how an Indigenous-centred interpretation can help illuminate aspects of the house and its history that might not be immediately visible.
Project(s)
Translating the language of empire: visible and invisible Indigenous American histories in historic houses
Journal title
History Workshop
Rights statement
In Copyright
Keywords