Splendid isolation

What did the legendary interior designer Veere Grenney learn from spending lockdown in a Palladian folly? Giles Kime finds out

Together in eclectic dreams

Next week, Anouska Hempel, high priestess of carefully considered eclecticism and founder of Blakes Hotel, will be honoured at the V&A Museum

A tomb with a view

Long or round, large or small, prehistoric tumuli dot the countryside. Vicky Liddell explores the history, folklore and literary influence of burial mounds or barrows and reveals how they were nearly lost to the 18th-century digging mania

In praise of decency

Queuing for hours to pay tribute to our Queen was a typically moving display of British thoughtfulness, but other examples abound in the countryside, finds Margaret Casely-Hayford

A seat of legal learning - Lincoln's Inn, London WC2, part II The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn

In the second of two articles, John Goodall examines the architectural development of Lincoln's Inn from the late 17th century to the present day

For love of Florence

Tom Richards will soon be head of the Florence Academy of Art. He speaks to Arabella Youens

In search of sunshine

Arabella Youens explores what you can buy (and how far your budget will go) in short- and long-haul destinations

A perfect pearing

IF pears were a person, you'd have nothing to do with them.

Flame throwers - Thenford Arboretum, Thenford House, Northamptonshire The home of Lord and Lady Heseltine

More than 3,000 different trees–in particular, the fine collections of oaks and maples–are about to put on a striking autumn show, writes Charles Quest-Ritson

Speaking truth to power

Cartoonists have been holding political figures to account since the Georgian era. Charles Harris retraces the history of a proud tradition of British satire

St Martin-in-the-Fields

IT may not be the first name on their lips when people talk about famous places of worship, but St Martin-in-the-Fields is the most visible parish church in London, at the centre of the tourist route and a regular background feature for city inhabitants going about their daily business. It's fortunate that it is the prettiest church in the capital, easily holding its own against the larger buildings that have sprung up around since its first stone was laid 300 years ago this year.

My favourite painting Cecilia McDowall

Charlotte Mullins comments on Annunciation

Wild about you

A longtime source of inspiration for authors and artists, wild animals were once considered acceptable household pets and beloved companions, finds Jeremy Hobson

Called to the Bar: Lincoln's Inn, London WC2, part I The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn

This year, Lincoln's Inn celebrates a remarkable 600th anniversary. In the first of two articles, John Goodall examines the origins of this celebrated society of lawyers

Trees for life

The Woodland Trust was set up as a Nature-conservation charity specifically concerned with trees. Clive Aslet visits its south Devon birthplace of 50 years ago and remembers its far-sighted and altruistic founder

THE CAPITAL ACCORDING TO... Howard Jacobson

Booker Prize-winner Howard Jacobson talks to Harry McKinley about life in Soho and London's best bagel

Table for two, per favore

Emma Hughes presents the best international restaurants in London right now

Ghost town

Many out there believe that the capital's streets, pubs and even hospitals are home to myriad ghosts-a few friendly, some less so. On a walk through some of these supposedly haunted sites, Carla Passino tries to separate fact from fiction

A voyage of discovery

A cruise on the beautiful River Severn offers a unique way to discover the heart of England

The beautiful game

ILLUSTRATING a highly popular activity that paused for a few days earlier this month out of respect for the death of our late Queen Elizabeth II, L. S. Lowry's Going to the Match, painted in 1953, for an exhibition in honour of the Football Association's 90th anniversary, is set to kick-off a few ripples in the art market when it goes under the hammer next month.

My favourite painting Stella loannou

Where Do We Come From, What Are We, Where Are We Going? by Emma Talbot

Aerofilms Collection

by Claude Grahame-White and Francis Lewis Wills

A Cotswold capital

During the Civil War, Oxford briefly became Charles I's capital. Simon Thurley explains how the city was fortified and the university adapted to accommodate the Court

It's time we came back to earth

The excitement over space travel is overblown, says the (terrestrial) explorer Robin Hanbury-Tenison. Instead of reaching for the stars, we should be marvelling at and caring for what we already have on our own planet

In search of black magic

After years of decline, English truffle hunting is enjoying an exciting revival. Ben Lerwill heads to the Cotswolds to join the search for this highly prized fungus

Going with the flow

Once the most fertile land on a farm, water meadows are now increasingly valued for the huge diversity of life they sustain, as Natasha Goodfellow discovers on a tour of some of the Cotswolds's best examples

Faking it

Real or faux marble? Amelia Thorpe weighs the pros and cons of the two options

Pure enchantment

The lure of the Cotswolds never wavers, as these five new to the market properties show

Elizabeth the Steadfast

Elizabeth II, Britain's longest-serving monarch, embodied the traditional values of duty, fidelity and constancy throughout her glorious reign, yet always managed to move with the times. Matthew Dennison pays tribute

Rural business to receive helping hand

A NEW Government initiative to boost investment in the rural economy has been welcomed by countryside organisations. CLA president Mark Tufnell describes it as ‘the first steps towards delivering a robust and ambitious plan to create economic growth in the countryside’. Earlier this month,