Eastbury Manor House and Valence House were once country houses with farmed estates. Many British country houses show links to different kinds of colonial activity in a wide range of countries and settings.

Barking and Dagenham Heritage Service is committed to telling the fullest possible histories of their sites, even when some of this history is sensitive. On the publication of new historic research, this talk will explore previous owners and tenants’ connections to colonial activity and the transatlantic slave trade, and how new writing could respond and make sense of this legacy.

With contributions from Lisa Rigg (heritage properties manager and building historian), Paul Crooks (family historian and author), Tobi Oluwe (Barking resident, former volunteer at Eastbury and History graduate) and Corinne Fowler (author on postcolonial literature). As part of Black History Month.