CATEGORIES

HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

Many will have wondered what lies behind the huge windows of the Victorian-era studios on one of London’s busiest roads. Rosie Paterson takes a peek

Blooming lovely

Seize the moment to plant a lilac–the scent of their generous flowers is more than enough reason why every garden should have one or, ideally, several, believes Charles Quest-Ritson

Under the Tuscan sun

In contrast with the arid landscape of the Val d’Orcia, the exuberant gardens created by Cecil Pinsent for the writer Iris Origo at La Foce, Tuscany, Italy, are all the more astonishing

The main attraction

The Greek islands have been a go-to holiday destination for decades, but what about the mythical and sometimes misunderstood mainland?

Plaster of paradise

Recent restoration and revival offers the perfect opportunity for a reappraisal of this house and its magnificent plasterwork interiors.

Through the looking glass

On a bleak January day, John Lewis-Stempel boards a train from London to Herefordshire and admires the wealth of wildlife on view through the carriage window

The women shaping a new countryside

Throughout history, formidable women such as Cleopatra and Lady Eve Balfour did much to nurture the land. Camilla Akers-Douglas talks to four present-day matriarchs who are helping to boost the rural economy in very different ways

Over the Moon

A Tintin drawing makes a record in Paris and a not-too frightening Bacon will be at the Royal Academy

Not such a Scilly idea

Beloved by The Prince of Wales, who shares his Scottish home with them, and thriving on Tresco and Arran–where they supposedly arrived in a laundry basket–red squirrels have a particular penchant for island life

The designer's room

Interior designer Sarah Fortescue has transformed the drawing room of a house on her family’s Cornish estate with colour and pattern

Everybody say cheese

The millennia-long tradition of cheesemaking in Britain and Ireland, having weathered many storms, is as vigorous as ever thanks to the great cheese renaissance. Ned Palmer takes a dairy-driven tour

In search of beauty

A publisher, innovator and shrewd businessman with strong connections to the Liberal political establishment, Edward Hudson was the visionary founder of COUNTRY LIFE 125 years ago. Clive Aslet revisits his remarkable life

The architectural conscience of the nation

Michael Hall, a former Architectural Editor and Deputy Editor of COUNTRY LIFE, looks back at the magazine’s formation of its architectural coverage from 1897 to 1939

The late blooming of a ‘saintly clergyman'

After a lifetime of quietly sketching wildflowers, parish priest William Keble Martin finally published the book every schoolboy wanted, says Matthew Dennison

White magic

Nowhere else can gardeners see rare named snowdrops growing in such measureless drifts as in the Rothschilds’ private garden at Eythrope in Buckinghamshire, finds Mary Keen

Loved back to life

Fulbeck House, Lincolnshire The home of Claire Van Cleave. This little-known house of about 1700 has been the subject of tactful restoration for a period of more than 20 years. Jeremy Musson looks at its fascinating history

The Queen's lost library

New research offers fresh insight into the splendid interiors of Queen Caroline’s library, a compact building by William Kent that once overlooked London’s Green Park, reveals Rufus Bird

Polly wants an apple

Ring-necked parakeets have made themselves at home across London and beyond, but how did these birds come to swap tropical climes for our grey shores, asks Claire Jackson

It's party time

From the smartest country estates to the capital’s most glamorous hotels, securing the dream wedding venue should be your first priority

Little England

Lost villages, factory villages, tourist villages, Georgian villages: these pieces of England all have their own story to tell. Archaeologist Ben Robinson chooses his top 10

Lands of plenty

From £2 million to £20 million properties, 2021 was a stellar year for sales of farms and estates

Blasts from the past

Two dealers are remembered at Sworders, through a painting by a limbless artist and a Soviet state dinner service

Something old, something new

Unusual architectural features are having a revival, finds Lucy Denton, from medieval moats to ice houses

The designer's room

A striking copper bath and classically inspired joinery have brought this bathroom to life

Through the mists of time

A history of the past 125 years can be read in COUNTRY LIFE’s thousands upon thousands of property advertisements. Annunciata Elwes dives in

Good sense in spades

For more than a century, COUNTRY LIFE has championed the finest garden writing. Steven Desmond looks back at our unrivalled contributors, from Gertrude Jekyll to Alan Titchmarsh

Born to paint a happier land

Thanks to vast canvases such as The Hay Wain, we might think we already know John Constable’s inimitable style. However, in later life, his work–now on show at the Royal Academy–became more radical and expressive, says Peyton Skipwith

A garden of the imagination

Timothy Mowl celebrates what may be the most atmospheric, the most beautiful and the most intellectual garden in the country, Rousham in Oxfordshire

LET'S START AT THE VERY BEGINNING

The first issue of COUNTRY LIFE was published 125 years ago. Former Editor Clive Aslet takes a look at what was happening in London at the same time

A genteel gatehouse

The Broad Gate, Ludlow, Shropshire The home of Sir Keith and Lady Thomas A 13th-century fortification that defined medieval Ludlow has been transformed into a Georgian townhouse. John Goodall examines its remarkable story and restoration