An art form that makes us think

One of Britain’s greatest living sculptors reflects on a new cathedral project

Wall-to-wall brilliance

Inside the early-18th-century walls of Hopetoun House, West Lothian, bold planting schemes and original designs are providing an exciting new use for this 12-acre former kitchen garden, discovers Noel Kingsbury

Reaching for the top

IN THE GARDEN

‘And your English summer's done'

Deciding to ignore Kipling’s gloomy assessment of August, John Lewis-Stempel and his labrador cool off after a day’s combining with a dip in the stream

Beyond Our Wildest Dreams?

Wilder farming is as close to a silver bullet for the future management of our marginal lands as we’ll find and it’s high time to embrace this new way, contends

Island retreat

Holly Kirkwood has the pick of properties for sale on the Guernsey open market

In the ribbons

Whether pinned on a politician’s lapel or won in the show ring, rosettes can be more precious than shiny trophies

Age is no barrier to greatness

The play’s the thing as Sir Ian McKellen gives his Hamlet and classic musicals are given enlightening new twists

A sailor's playground

From pristine bays and teal waters to seals and puffins, Emma Bamford relishes boating around Guernsey

Rebecca

Britain's greatest mastepieces

Phoenix from the flames

Two glorious houses that burnt to the ground– one in Herefordshire in 1999 and another in Wiltshire in 1882–have been rebuilt, as another, in Devon, has been beautifully updated

Upstairs, downstairs

The Victorian terrace is one of the unsung heroes of 19th-century architecture, not only elegant and space efficient, but also highly adaptable to the changing demands of modern life, believes Clive Aslet

Under the Guernsey stars

From dark skies to wild coastlines and magnificent gardens, Antonia Windsor revels in the Bailiwick’s spectacular natural world

Why fuchsia snobs should think again

Banished for being blowsy and vulgar, the much-maligned fuchsia is at last being welcomed back into society

In A World Of Pure Imagination

More than a century after they were last exhibited, Gustave Moreau’s The Fables remain timeless and glittering visions of a jewelled neverland, finds Matthew Dennison

In the frame

Everything you need for beautiful windows, selected by Amelia Thorpe

Never say never

What resources are needed to save a country house on the brink? Lucy Denton investigates

The Athenian revolution

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the completion of St Pancras Church, Harry Mount considers the early-19th-century enthusiasm for Greek architecture and its impact on buildings across the British Isles.

An open-and-shut case

When it comes to sash windows, are you a purist or a pragmatist? Eleanor Doughty examines the argument for both options

Come to the point

For lovers of traditional sport and skilled dog-work, the spectacle of pursuing grouse over pointers and setters is hypnotic and exhilarating, says Jonathan Young

Feeling hot, hot, hot

Drawn into the chilli’s fiery embrace at a young age–when sneaking a sip of his father’s Tabasco-laden Bloody Mary–Tom Parker Bowles is addicted to the fruit with a sting in its tail

Grace and space

Three Kent properties show off the best that the Garden of England has to offer

Taking the waters

For Georgian landowners, a mineral-laced spring could mean a profitable resort, even if the water was rusty orange–and our spa towns remain a tonic today, says Clive Aslet

Time to try defying gravity

Thomas the Tank Engine, van Gogh’s head, a pair of Levi’s and a Tyrannosaurus Rex: Cameron Balloons has made them all fly in the form of hot-air balloons, finds Julie Harding

A room for all seasons

Interior designer Sarah Vanrenen has created an outdoor room that’s perfect for summer (and winter) entertaining, finds Amelia Thorpe

Get ready for their grand entrance

As useful, tough and easy to grow as they are dramatic, colchicums offer spring-like freshness, but in autumn, reveals Charles Quest-Ritson

Come hell or high water

Often hidden beneath slippery fronds of seaweed, rock pools offer a glimmering window into the cut-throat existence of the creatures that live in these havens on our shores, says Adam Nicolson

The mouse that roared

She kept an eclectic menagerie of pets and wild animals and signed everything, from paintings to cheques, with a tiny mouse. Claire Jackson revisits the all-too-short life of wildlife artist Mouse Macpherson

Picturing paradise

Balletic grace, disciplined spirituality, eloquent economy, unrestrained fantasy and pictorial intensity: five artists took very different approaches to illustrating Dante’s vision of Heaven, says Martin Kemp

Magical landscapes

There’s shooting, stalking, fishing, farming and houses aplenty within the golden acres of two of this country’s finest agricultural estates