Making its place in the 21st Century countryside: life and identities within today's English rural sporting estate.

Several key examples of Philo's (1992) 'neglected rural geographies' are yet to be subject to adequate investigation. One area is the sporting estate, a land-based business with shooting, fishing and/or stalking economically prominent. The few studies to date have been overwhelmingly limited to the higher-profile Scottish context. This PhD will explore everyday practices and experiences of rural life (Halfacree 2006) expressed through case-study English estates to evaluate their place today within the overall rural mosaic. Diverse historical, social, and cultural sources will be utilised to express the multiple voices of all - rural and urban - engaging with and through these estates.