A new, free online course enables users to explore Victorian literature and culture through English country houses. The Course, designed by the University of Sheffield, looks at how classic novelists (Austen, Wilde, Dickens for example) used the prism of English country house living to tackle the themes and explore the characters in their works. As well as examining novels, articles and letters from this period it also visits the country houses that inspired them, like Chatsworth House, Nostell Priory and Haddon Hall and look at original manuscripts from the University’s Special Collections archive. The course is free to access. See here to sign up.