
John Goodall
John spent his childhood in Kenya, Germany, India and Yorkshire before joining Country Life in 2007, via the University of Durham. Known for his irrepressible love of castles and the Frozen soundtrack, and a laugh that lights up the lives of those around him, John also moonlights as a walking encyclopedia and is the author of several books.
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Le Relais de Chambord: The hotel in the shadow of a masterpiece
A new hotel opens on the grounds of the Châteax de Chambord, allowing visitors to bask in the glory of the French Renaissance castle. John Goodall reports.
By John Goodall Published
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The story of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries, Westminster Abbey's first major addition in 250 years
The architectural choices behind the recent additions to Westminster Abbey mark them out as a radical departure. John Goodall admires the success of the project, with photographs by Paul Highnam.
By John Goodall Published
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Harlaxton Manor, Lincolnshire: An American evolution
Over the past half century, the care of an American university has returned one of the landmark buildings of early Victorian England to life and splendour. John Goodall reports.
By John Goodall Published
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Alston Court, Suffolk: A vivid insight into Tudor living on the grand scale
One of the most important late-medieval merchant’s houses in the country offers a vivid insight into Tudor living on the grand scale, as John Goodall discovers.
By John Goodall Published
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Chenies Manor, Buckinghamshire: The Tudor estate that encompasses the ancient oak tree beneath which Elizabeth I lost a piece of jewellery
This Tudor house was the unlikely venue for the first meeting of the founding group of The Arts Society. John Goodall tells its remarkable story.
By John Goodall Published
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Titanic Hotel, Belfast review: A shipyard escape
John Goodall paid a visit to Belfast's recently-opened Titanic Hotel, a place full of clever themed touches to celebrate the ill-fated ocean liner.
By John Goodall Published
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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.
By John Goodall Published
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The Chapel of Trinity College, Oxford: A return to splendour
One of Oxford’s most admired interiors has been revived, as John Goodall reports.
By John Goodall Published
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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.
By John Goodall Published
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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 explains.
By John Goodall Published
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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 century, as John Goodall explains.
By John Goodall Published
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Orthopaedic shoe-making: The bridge between architecture and podiatry
John Goodall meets Bill Bird, who, having studied architecture at the Bartlett, now makes orthopaedic shoes.
By John Goodall Published
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Ghent: Belgium’s best-kept secret
John Goodall visits Ghent, a city full of unexpected delights.
By John Goodall Published
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In the cathedral’s shadow: The Cathedral Close, Wells
The splendours of Wells Cathedral can easily distract from the astonishing architecture that surrounds it. In the second of two articles, John Goodall describes the remarkable history of the precinct.
By John Goodall Published
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Wells Cathedral, Somerset: A symphony of architecture
In the first of two articles, John Goodall describes the architectural development of Wells and the struggle of its late-medieval clergy to win the church its now-familiar status as a cathedral.
By John Goodall Published
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Cesky Krumlov Castle's exquisite theatre: The scene of princely diversion
The object of a heroic recent restoration, the 1760s theatre at Cesky Krumlov carries the modern visitor back into the Baroque world. In the second of two articles on the castle, John Goodall examines its astonishing survival.
By John Goodall Published
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Cesky Krumlov: Inside one of Europe’s greatest castles
Cesky Krumlov Castle was extravagantly remodelled in the 18th-century. In the first of two articles, John Goodall considers its development and spectacular interiors.
By John Goodall Published
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Thrumpton Hall, Nottinghamshire: A treasure on the Trent
A surviving collection of personal letters sheds a fascinating light on 18th-century life in this fine Jacobean house. John Goodall examines the development of the building.
By John Goodall Published
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'I didn't even know what a cooper was': Hanging with master cooper
Alastair Simms is one of Britain’s few remaining traditional coopers. John Goodall caught up with him to talk about barrels, birthdays, and beer that tastes of plastic.
By John Goodall Published
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The Country House Library: Why these rooms and their collections need to be taken much more seriously
A new account of the country-house library will compel us all to reassess these rooms and their collections, says John Goodall.
By John Goodall Published
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Stanford Hall, Leicestershire: A vibrant estate playing an active role in the world around it
An ambitious round of restoration work is reviving an estate and country house after a challenging 20th century. John Goodall explores the history of this remarkable building.
By John Goodall Published
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Mount Grace Priory, North Yorkshire: Cloistered from the world
This magnificently preserved charterhouse offers a compelling insight into late-medieval English monasticism.
By John Goodall Published
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Great Chalfield Manor: The magic of the Middle Ages
The serene beauty of this magnificent 15th-century manor house belies a complex and eventful history.
By John Goodall Published
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Powderham: The Devonshire castle that's been in the same family for 600 years
An ancestral West Country home that has passed through the hands of one family for the past 600 years has, since the 18th century, developed a dazzling succession of interiors.
By John Goodall Published