A team of stonemasons is hard at work restoring Canterbury's magnificent cathedral, employing techniques that have been used since the dawn of civilisation. They spoke to Tessa Waugh.
Architecture
Plumpton Rocks, Harrogate: Heaven on earth
Recent restoration work has helped re-create a celebrated landscape garden crafted in the late 18th century around a dramatic gritstone outcrop, as John Goodall explains.
The Chapel of Trinity College, Oxford: A return to splendour
One of Oxford’s most admired interiors has been revived, as John Goodall reports.
Cliffe Castle, West Yorkshire: A French-inspired vision of comfort and glamour
A Yorkshire mill-owner and merchant created a flamboyant and cosmopolitan home, as Jeremy Musson explains.
Ockwells Manor, Berkshire: An insight into the splendours of grand living in 15th-century England
A delightful timber-frame house offers insights into the realities of luxurious 15th-century living and the brutal complexities of Lancastrian politics, as John Goodall explains.
The traditional Brick-Maker who supplies Hampton Court: ‘It’s like kneading dough’
There is only one company left in Britain still producing hand-made bricks – and their customers include the likes of Hampton Court. Tessa Waugh spoke to the gentlemen of H. G.…
Capheaton Hall, Northumberland: The revival of a country house that narrowly avoided demolition
A house that narrowly avoided demolition after the Second World War has been gradually revived by the family that has occupied it for the past seven centuries, as John Goodall…
The Country Life Top 100 builders, architects, interior decorators and garden designers in Britain
Country Life's experts have delved into their little black books to bring you the finest architects, builders, interior decorators and garden designers in Britain.
The best country house architects in Britain
Country Life has once again delved into its little black book and fully updated its list of the finest architects in Britain – an indispensable guide if you're considering serious…
The best builders in Britain
Whether you're embarking on a new-build or painstakingly restoring a listed building, here are the craftsmen with excellent foundations.
Jason Goodwin: ‘Memories fade. Gavin was right: buildings outlive us all and they’re each memorials. They should not be allowed to disappear’
Our columnist remembers Gavin Stamp, the architectural critic, historian and campaigner.
Broomhall, Fife: A stupendous country house restored by the Earl of Elgin after 40 years of thought
The Earl of Elgin, celebrated for securing the sculpture from the Parthenon, spent 40 years toying with the reconstruction of his house, which has recently been restored for the 21st…
Woodhall Park, Hertfordshire: An exemplary example of restoration that highlights the importance of colour in Georgian interiors
The recent restoration of Woodhall Park underlines the striking importance of colour in our understanding of Georgian interiors, as John Martin Robinson explains.
Marble Hill, Richmond-upon-Thames: Restored to good nature
A restoration project that aims to revive the landscape garden setting of an outstanding 18th-century villa throws new light on the gardening interests of Alexander Pope and the attractive personality…
Quinta da Regaleira, Portugal: The mysterious garden designed by a world-famous set designer and architect
Between 1898 and 1912, one of the world’s most mysterious gardens was created by the opera and theatre designer Luigi Manini. Tim Richardson introduces us to its splendours and its…
The demolition of Halnaby Hall is a warning from history, but destruction needn’t always be a disaster
The wretched fate of Halnaby Hall, a 17th-century mansion in North Yorkshire, was depicted to gruesome effect on the cover of the 1974 The Destruction of the Country House, shown…
Stockton House, Wiltshire: An Elizabethan house packed with 21st century surprises
This fine house of about 1600 has been carefully renovated to provide modern services in a historic context. Clive Aslet reports on the challenges of this undertaking.
Longthorpe Tower’s 700-year-old insight into the medieval mind
This surviving cycle of 14th-century paintings still has the power to intrigue, amuse and inform. It also offers a remarkable insight into the medieval world view, as Edward Impey expains.
Ince Castle, Cornwall: A country house risen from the flames
A serious fire can be the end of a country house, but, on occasion, it can also offer the opportunity for a sensitive and thoughtful reworking of a building, as…
Marston House, Somerset: A magnificent example of Victorian enrichment of a great Georgian country house
One of the most important Georgian houses of south-western England has been rescued from the brink of demolition. John Robinson reports on the remarkable history of this building and its…