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Broadwoodside: A farm steading in the heart of a magical Scottish landscape
Broadwoodside — the home of Robert and Anna Dalrymple — is a modest farm steading in East Lothian that has been stylishly transformed into the heart of a magical landscape and garden. John Goodall admires the sympathy and humour of the project. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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Westminster Abbey: 1,000 years of coronations, from King Harold and William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II and Charles III
The setting of Charles III’s crowning in Westminster Abbey in London lends grandeur and history to this great ceremony. John Goodall considers the evolution of this remarkable building and its role in celebrating the authority and antiquity of the monarchy.
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What the Charles III coronation invitations look like — and why they'll likely be worth a fortune one day
Invitations to coronations have always been highly prized. Since the 18th century, they have also been designed to reflect the solemnity and splendour of the occasion, as John Goodall discovers.
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West Horsley Place, Surrey: The real-life country house where the BBC's Ghosts is filmed
West Horsley Place is one of the most important historic houses in Surrey — and it’s enjoying a new lease of life as a centre for the Arts, not least thanks to its starring role in Ghosts, one of the most popular BBC comedies in years. John Goodall looks at the history of this remarkable building. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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Westminster Abbey: How the nation's coronation church has touched our lives for 1,000 years
In anticipation of The Queen’s Jubilee Year, Country Life had the opportunity to photograph the majestic interiors of Westminster Abbey, our coronation church, amid the quiet of lockdown. In the first of two articles, John Goodall explains how, in this building, events from the deep past continue to touch our lives today. Photographs by Will Pryce for the Country Life Picture Library.
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The Reform Club: Inside 'the most magnificent club in London', almost unchanged since the days of Phileas Fogg
The Reform Club was made famous by Jules Verne as the home-from-home of Phileas Fogg in Around the World in Eighty Days. Yet it began life, as John Goodall discovers, as an attempt to unify the Radical and Whig interests as a coherent political force, prompting work to what aimed to be the most magnificent club in London.
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Vermeer at the Rijksmuseum: 'As near as my life will come to finding a golden ticket to Willy Wonka's factory'
Country Life's John Goodall managed to get hold of a ticket to one of the most eagerly-anticipated art exhibitions in years: Vermeer at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
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Chandler’s House: Style with sympathy, as 18th century architecture meets 21st century flourish
The sympathetic restoration of the delightful Chandler’s House — in Alton Barnes, Wiltshire — has created new, liveable and stylish interiors within potentially awkward constraints, as John Goodall discovers. Photography by Paul Highnam for the Country Life Picture Library.
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The fate of Ruperra Castle 'is a national scandal'
Country Life's architectural editor John Goodall is appalled at the lackadaisical approach of conservation authorities to Ruperra Castle, a Welsh gem in Caerphilly.
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Winchester College: A palace for education
John Goodall looks at the origins of Winchester College and the inspiration for its superb medieval buildings. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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The evolution of the English country house from 1939 to 2022
Over the past year our architecture editor John Goodall has illustrated a period in the development of the English great house. In this final article in this 12-part series, John looks at the Country House since the outbreak of the Second World War.
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Lincoln Cathedral: The 950-year story of one of Europe's very greatest cathedrals
On the 950th anniversary of the royal transfer of The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin, Lincoln, John Goodall looks at the medieval development of what is without doubt one of Europe’s most brilliantly conceived cathedrals. Photographs by Paul Highnam for the Country Life Picture Library.
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Draper's Hall: Inside the exquisite and spectacular place that's one of the finest halls in London
A restoration project revives the spectacular interior of one of Draper's Hall, one of London’s finest Livery Halls. John Goodall looks at the origins and history of the body that created it. Photographs by Will Pryce.
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The architecture of Victorian Houses, and how it was perfectly captured by the letters of a 23-year-old American girl
In our 125th anniversary year, Country Life has been taking a look at the development of the English home. This week, John Goodall looks at the architecture of Victorian Houses from 1837–1890.
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350 years in the architectural evolution of Lincoln's Inn, from 1672 to 2022: 'Self-consciously Gothic, constitutional and English'
In the second of two articles, John Goodall examines the architectural development of Lincoln’s Inn from the late 17th century to the present day.
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Lincoln's Inn: 'Everything about the origins of the Inns of Court is mysterious'
This year, Lincoln’s Inn celebrates a remarkable 600th anniversary. In the first of two articles, John Goodall examines the origins of this celebrated society of lawyers. Photographs by Will Pryce for Country Life.
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The English country house in the Regency period: Fashionable novelty and an unprecedented stylistic eclecticism
John Goodall looks at developments in the English house during the Regency period.
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The Royal Yacht Britannia: How The Queen created a floating home and theatre of state
The Queen was the best-travelled monarch in British history. John Goodall looks at the story of the Royal Yacht Britannia, now permanently moored in Leith, Edinburgh. Photographs by Paul Highnam.
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Who wrote 'God Save The King'? The extraordinary tale of the British national anthem
What are the origins of our national anthem? John Goodall investigates the extraordinary story behind both the tune and the words, as well as their influence on other nations.
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The creation of Holkham Hall
In the second of two articles, John Goodall revisits Holkham Hall — the seat of the Earl of Leicester — to tell the story of its creation in the mid 18th century by the Earl of Leicester and his widow.
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National Trust chairman René Olivieri: 'I am grateful that people have a view and feel strongly about these things. I want to hear criticisms'
The new National Trust chairman René Olivieri on an unexpected past and hopes for the future.
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Holkham Hall: 'there are few places a modern visitor can get so close to the realities of life on the grand scale in 18th-century Britain'
John Goodall revisits the splendours of Holkham Hall in Norfolk, a celebrated house — and the seat of the Earl of Leicester — created in the mid 18th century by Thomas Coke, Earl of Leicester.
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Farringford: The story of the Isle of Wight bolthole of Alfred, Lord Tennyson
After nearly 60 years as a hotel, this former home of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson has been triumphantly restored as a house museum. John Goodall reports; photography by Paul Highnam.
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Hall Place, Hampshire: The fabulous house where the Duchess of Cornwall spent her idyllic childhood summers
Hall Place in West Meon, Hampshire, is currently the home of Michael and Claudia Langdon. Yet for many years it was owned by the grandparents of HRH The Duchess of Cornwall. The house, so well known to The Duchess in her childhood, was specially chosen by her for coverage in her guest-edited issue of Country Life. It is revealed in a new light by fresh documentary research, as John Goodall reports. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
