TOP 10 FORTIFIED HOUSES
BBC Countryfile Magazine|August 2024
Some of our most romantic old houses were built in dangerous times, when high walls offered vital protection. Dixe Wills picks his favourites
Dixe Wills
TOP 10 FORTIFIED HOUSES

Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire

Built in the early 14th century on the site of a Saxon manor house, Baddesley Clinton became the property of one family - the Ferrers - for 12 generations and nearly half a millennium.

Hidden deep in the Forest of Arden, Baddesley Clinton doesn't draw unwanted attention to itself. Even so, fugitive Catholic clergy fearing for their lives during the reign of Elizabeth I hid themselves still deeper in the house, using 'priest holes' created to secrete up to a dozen people. Further protection came in the shape of a crenelated tower and a walled garden for food supplies.

Prior to the Ferrers' ownership, one 15th-century resident, John Brome, added garderobes (toilets) and a sewer. He was murdered by a steward named John Herthill at London's Whitefriars church following a dispute over a mortgage. Brome's second son, Nicholas, duly despatched Herthill in a duel in 1471.

Some time later, Nicholas arrived home to find the parish priest stroking his wife's face and promptly ran him through with a sword. Seeking atonement, the murdering miscreant asked to be buried in the doorway of nearby St Michael's, so the congregation "may tread upon mee as they come into the church".

In the 19th century, the house was repaired with royalties from the novels of Georgiana Chatterton. She had married Edward Dering, 20 years her junior, who had asked her for the hand of her daughter in marriage. Hard of hearing, Georgiana thought he was proposing to her and duly accepted. nationaltrust.org.uk >

2 Blencowe Hall,

Cumbria

Don't bother trying to find the original moated manor house that Adam de Blencowe built in the 1350s because it has almost entirely disappeared.

Esta historia es de la edición August 2024 de BBC Countryfile Magazine.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición August 2024 de BBC Countryfile Magazine.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE BBC COUNTRYFILE MAGAZINEVer todo
Guilt-Free Meat? - Should the world stop eating meat to tackle the climate crisis? Chris Baraniuk meets an experimental farmer who says we don't all have to become vegetarians
BBC Countryfile Magazine

Guilt-Free Meat? - Should the world stop eating meat to tackle the climate crisis? Chris Baraniuk meets an experimental farmer who says we don't all have to become vegetarians

Should the world stop eating meat to tackle the climate crisis? Chris Baraniuk meets an experimental farmer who says we don't all have to become vegetarians. Livestock farming around the world is facing scrutiny because of its greenhouse gas emissions. Globally, the sector contributes somewhere between 11.1% and 19.6% of total emissions. Meat production is roughly twice as bad as the production of plant-based food, according to some analyses. And beef is the worst of all. Study after study has suggested that, in order to curtail the devastating effects of climate change, we ought to shift to a diet containing less meat - or even go vegetarian or vegan.

time-read
8 minutos  |
October 2024
Discover Cider Country - Explore mellow golden countryside, pedalling between medieval villages, historic inns and fruitful orchards, on a delightful Herefordshire Cider Circuit adventure with Julie Brominicks
BBC Countryfile Magazine

Discover Cider Country - Explore mellow golden countryside, pedalling between medieval villages, historic inns and fruitful orchards, on a delightful Herefordshire Cider Circuit adventure with Julie Brominicks

Explore mellow golden countryside, pedalling between medieval villages, historic inns and fruitful orchards, on a delightful Herefordshire Cider Circuit adventure with Julie Brominicks. I'm cycling Porter's Perfection, one of three cider circuits developed for Visit Herefordshire over the past few years. Each showcases a section of this bucolic county's loveliest villages, pubs, orchards and cidermakers via lanes suited to bicycles - e-bikes for hill-averse cyclists like me. The idea is to allow you to appreciate the sights, sounds and smells of cider country while traversing roads never meant for modern cars. If you have dodgy knees, or are keen to indulge in the local adult apple juice as you go (remember, it's illegal to cycle while under the influence), Visit Herefordshire also promotes cider bus routes.

time-read
7 minutos  |
October 2024
TOP 10 WILD AUTUMN FOODS
BBC Countryfile Magazine

TOP 10 WILD AUTUMN FOODS

Make the most of seasonal abundance with foraging tips and recipe ideas from wild food expert Liz Knight

time-read
10 minutos  |
October 2024
The taste of England
BBC Countryfile Magazine

The taste of England

Amid pastures farmed by her family for more than four centuries, Mary Quicke is reviving forgotten dairy traditions to produce delicious Devon cheeses

time-read
6 minutos  |
October 2024
How to eat 30 plants a week
BBC Countryfile Magazine

How to eat 30 plants a week

As science proves the many health-boosting benefits of eating at least 30 different plants each week, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall shares recipes to help you meet the magic target

time-read
5 minutos  |
October 2024
RARE RAFT SPIDER MAKES A COMEBACK
BBC Countryfile Magazine

RARE RAFT SPIDER MAKES A COMEBACK

Thanks to dedicated conservation work, this impressive but vulnerable arachnid is resurgent in East Anglia

time-read
1 min  |
October 2024
SPECTACULAR STONEHENGE FINDS
BBC Countryfile Magazine

SPECTACULAR STONEHENGE FINDS

Following the latest astonishing revelation about the Stonehenge Altar Stone's Scottish origins, Dixe Wills looks at recent discoveries that have changed the way we view this impressive and enigmatic Neolithic monument

time-read
4 minutos  |
October 2024
GALLOWAY NATIONAL PARK DEBATE
BBC Countryfile Magazine

GALLOWAY NATIONAL PARK DEBATE

Would this protected status bring welcome recognition and attention - or overcrowding and problems for farmers?

time-read
1 min  |
October 2024
Farmers are valued, so why do they feel we don't care?
BBC Countryfile Magazine

Farmers are valued, so why do they feel we don't care?

For farmers out in their fields in all seasons, worried about the future as dramatic levels of rainfall blamed on climate change damage their crops, inflation and uncertainty push up their costs and what they see as unfair imports threaten their livelihoods, here's a spot of unexpectedly good news: the rest of us think you are doing a good job.

time-read
2 minutos  |
October 2024
Pumpkin patches
BBC Countryfile Magazine

Pumpkin patches

Find the perfect jack-o'-lantern for Halloween at a pick-your-own pumpkin patch. Some are simple affairs in tranquil countryside; others offer activities ranging from ghost trains to spooky mazes.

time-read
2 minutos  |
October 2024