A Family Home Once Again: How Authentic is the Visitor’s Experience of an Edwardian Country House at Sewerby Hall?

Abstract

Sewerby Hall was purchased by the local authority in 1934 although its contents were not. In the years that followed, the house suffered alteration and loss of some original features. In 2013/2014, the house was restored to reflect its appearance as the Edwardian home of the Lloyd Greame family, with dressed period rooms, reinstated features, a working Edwardian kitchen, and costumed interpretation. However, in reality, the house would be unrecognizable to the family; the furniture, the ornaments, and clutter are not theirs. In the kitchen the range is a replacement and the furniture brand new, while the interpreters are often older than the roles they portray. If so much has changed, can the visitor’s experience ever be considered authentic? This essay seeks to examine and define authenticity in the context of Sewerby Hall and to demonstrate how apparently irreconcilable contradictions can in fact combine to create an authentic visitor experience.