circumstances a great location for exploring local lakes and beauty spots. I feel I gained an invaluable experience of a research project within the heritage sector as well as a very enjoyable experience.
Joel Casey, St Anne’s College, DPhil English Literature, DPhil, A mixture of remote and in-person internship Work Projects I was tasked with researching and planning a 'below-stairs' tour of Muncaster Castle. I researched past staff at the Castle, systems and hierarchies of domestic service, and the gender and class politics of domestic life in a stately home. I visited the Castle twice to conduct archival research and to take visitor surveys on its re-opening. I was also given access to a number of digital resources and previous research. I was able to have meetings with the two curators at the Castle and other tour guides and staff, who all showed me a dizzying array of artefacts and documents which contributed to my research! They also helped me map out the practicalities of a tour route that avoided the Frost Pennington family's private rooms and could work on a one-way system. Daily Life Most of my work was remote, with a couple of visits to the Castle. I would begin the day slowly with a coffee by catching up on emails and correspondence relating to the internship. At the beginning, the key task was to work out what research I could do online and what would not be feasible. I compiled reading lists and contacted archives to see what I could access remotely and drew up a list of priorities for reading and research to carry out. In the evenings, I spent a lot of time watching films and TV shows or cooking to wind down (but not period dramas set in similar country houses!). When I was at the Castle, I would get up and meet with Peter as he was setting up the Castle for the day. There was not a set routine for the first visit as I was squeezing a lot in, but I spent a lot of time walking around dusty corridors and back rooms of the castle to map out potential routes for the tour, and poring over old wages books and other archival materials relating to domestic staff. I also had a work base in the very beautiful billiards room with wood-panelled walls including a piece of panelling from HMS Temeraire!
122
