CATEGORIES
Riding to the rescue
The gardens at Dowdeswell Court, Gloucestershire The home of Julian Dunkerton and Jade Holland Cooper
The brush of an angel
Although Angelica Kauffman painted royalty, became a founding member of the Royal Academy and gained recognition from Dublin to St Petersburg, she still had to contend with bias even long after her death, as Matthew Dennison discovers
I left my soul there, down by the sea
On a dull February morning, John Lewis-Stempel is consumed by childhood memories of the allure of the seashore, from the rhythmic, cresting waves and slippery seaweed of all shapes and hues to the shell-studded sand Illustration by Michael Frith
New for old
The gardens of Pembury Hall, near Tunbridge Wells, Kent The home of Mr and Mrs Paul Hilgers
A new vision
Conversions and new-builds of every shape and hue
End of an era
After more than a century in one family, the sale of a great Suffolk estate reveals a history that runs from a 17th-century MP via a Repton Red Book to a 'Galloping Major'
Character building
How do you make a newly built space look like an old one? The transformation of a house on the Cornish coast, by HÁM interiors, may provide the answer, believes Arabella Youens
Rascals and rusticants
Pet bears and lobsters on chains, horses in the bedroom and firearms at the window: British universities have long tolerated outlandish behaviour. But when is enough enough, asks Harry Pearson
Hitting the sweet spot
Barley sugars, pink shrimps and flying saucers: more than merely a sugar high, 'sweets were like currency at school', discovers Madeleine Silver as she gets stuck into tuck shops
How does your garden village grow?
A garden city planned by Sir Edwin Lutyens was never brought to completion. Plans to redevelop it today, however, threaten to destroy the character of what was created. Clive Aslet reports
Here's rooking at you
Rooks may be fond of gathering in sociable eyries high in the treetops, but it would be unwise to take them for granted, cautions Mark Cocker, for they are one of the most complex and consistently misrepresented birds in this country
And they called it puppy love
Partial to a poodle? Loopy about labradors? Cuckoo for cocker spaniels? You are not alone, says Victoria Marston, as she discovers the nation’s favourite dog breeds, decade by decade
Hedge of eternity
As old as husbandry hedges may be, but that doesn't mean they cannot be beautiful, too. Charles Quest-Ritson considers the many options,
A seed of an idea
There is a lot more to successful wildflower propagation than scattering a packet and hoping for the best, discovers Tilly Ware, as she visits the UK’s biggest wild-seed producer
A tower of thorns
Made with wind, sea and thorns on the wild west coast of Scotland, Blackthorn Salt brings surprising health benefits, as well as being a unique example of sustainable craftsmanship, says Ben Lerwill
Love and marriage
Marital relations are the central theme in these three plays. A real-life couple put on bravura performances, but an Austen adaptation misses
When West met East
The Arts flourished in the Ottoman Empire during the 16th century and their influence reached across space and time to Tudor and Victorian England
All in a life's work
Shropshire lads supreme and joined-up thinking in Oxfordshire
Where be dragons?
Lucien de Guise finds the answer in the original source of Hic sunt dracones ('Here be dragons'): a small copper globe of about 1510. The location is East Asia, where the dragon is still most active... as it is, of course, in Wales
On a wig and a prayer
Like marmalade on toast, saying sorry and the Shipping Forecast, there are few things more typically British than the courtroom wig, says Agnes Stamp
Follow your art
In a heist with a happy ending, a stolen Lavery oil made its way back to Stonyhurst College, Lancashire, where it now inspires headmaster John Browne,as Carla Passino discovers
Man of the world
Sir John Lavery is best known as a Society portraitist, but he was also a plein-air painter of modern life who moved easily between continents, painting as he went. Mary Miers follows his peregrinations
Blooming marvellous
From Duccio, who sneaked a vase of lilies into his depiction of the Annunciation, to Georgia O’Keeffe, who plunged viewers straight into the heart of her poppies, Michael Prodger explores how flowers have inspired artists across the centuries
Brothers in art
IN October 2022, the museum and former home of the celebrated Victorian artist Frederic, Lord Leighton reopened after an award-winning redevelopment.
All in a day's work
Duck dating, snowdrop splitting, welcoming avian visitors and manning the barricades against an unwanted national park
Lighting the way
LAST week’s announcement by Arts and Heritage Minister Lord Parkinson that four historic gas lamps on Russell Street, WC2, have been granted listed status is seen as a good omen by lobby group The London Gasketeers.
Love in the time of Austen
FOLLOWING on the dainty heels of Hilary Davidson’s Jane Austen’s Wardrobe (Books, September 6, 2023) and with a canny Valentine’s Day publication date, comes another stance on the Austen age. As the writer acknowledges in the preface, all authors of such social histories owe a debt to Lawrence Stone’s The Family, Sex and Marriage in England, 1500–1800, published in 1977.
The stuff of legends
The late Maurice 'Dick' Turpin, a celebrated antiques dealer and largerthan-life character, had wide-ranging interests, from fine furniture to Blue John, revealed in one of Sworders' final sales of his London home's contents
More than a pretty face
John Singer Sargent shot to fame for his Society portraits, but he was as adept in other genres and excelled at watercolor, often capturing 'off-duty' records of his many trips and travelling companions
Root planner
I HAVE a house plant that will be 50 years old in April. We used to call it Setcreasea purpurea—in fact we still do— but the RHS tells us that we should use the older name of Tradescantia pallida ‘Purpurea’, which is almost as grim as its common name of purple spiderwort.