Kathryn A Morrison – författare

Familiar multiples like Boots, Burton’s, Marks & Spencer and Woolworth’s – plus a host of smaller chains – forged the character of Britain’s high streets in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Multiple retailing was a supremely successful phenomenon, loved by thrifty shoppers but feared by independent competitors. It is explored here through the lens of its shops and stores, which are generously illustrated with archive and modern photographs. These range from the Edwardian grandeur of Boots to the Art Deco splendour of Burton’s and the utilitarian post-war buildings of Littlewoods. Smaller chains are not neglected, even if all that survives are weathered signs or mosaic pavements.The time is ripe for a study of chain stores. Britain’s retail giants have been under scrutiny since the shocking collapse of Woolworth’s in 2009, followed by BHS in 2016. Online shopping was already undermining bricks-and-mortar retailing when the COVID pandemic struck in 2020, accelerating the process. The recent demise of Debenhams, Arcadia, Wilko and others leaves vast empty premises in town centres nationwide. Our high streets are changing, but their legacy of chain-store buildings can play a constructive role in repurposing them for future generations.

This beautiful publication narrates the romantic biography of an architecturally significant country residence and its rescue from decline. Dating from the mid-15th century, Apethorpe in Northamptonshire was home to a succession of leading courtiers and politicians. At the command of King James I, the house was refurbished with a richly decorated state apartment. The suite, with its series of rare plaster ceilings and carved chimneypieces, unquestionably ranks as one of the finest—and least known—in Britain. In 2004, English Heritage rescued the house from ruin and has since restored it to much of its glory.  This book places Apethorpe in its wider historical and architectural context, comparing it with other Tudor and Jacobean houses. It sheds new light on the furnishing, decoration, and circulation patterns of state suites in country homes. Written by architectural and archeological experts from Historic England, this monograph, the first on Apethorpe, is illustrated with new and historical photographs, paintings, maps, engravings, and specially commissioned interpretive drawings that reveal how the house looked at key moments in its history.Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art