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A cosy cottage in Durham where Oliver Cromwell drank mead and dreamt of glorious uprising is for saleBlagraves in Barnard Castle, Co Durham, is a dreamy home by the River Tees which is the second oldest building in the town.
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‘Everyone had dodgy magazines hidden under their beds and I had interior design magazines’: James Thurstan Waterworth's consuming passionsInterior designer James Thurstan Waterworth was the European design director at Soho House before he went on to open his own studio, Thurstan. He discusses his love of Tudor history, Andrew Scott and how a portrait of a chicken changed his life.
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101 gold rats, a 'self portrait as a horse' and a tribute to motherhood take home top prizes at this year's Royal Academy Summer ExhibitionThe Royal Academy has announced its 2025 prize winners, spanning talented sculptors, painters and print-makers, with works on display in London until August 19.
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Five British gardens have a starring role on the New York Times's list of 25 must-see gardens — here are the ones they forgotMultiple British gardens have topped a New York Times list.
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Downtown Abbey is about to finish forever, and you're about to get a chance to see — and to buy — the costumes from the showDownton Abbey's exquisite costumes and props are going on show at a free exhibition ahead of a sale being held by Bonhams later this summer.
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‘What a shame when a dinosaur disappears into the mansion of an oligarch rather than being displayed for all to enjoy’: The ethics of the dinosaur auctionFancy a stegosaurus in your living room? You can buy one at auction. But the latest luxury good is a paleontologist's worst nightmare.
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A Hampshire Manor for sale that dates back to the days of Alfred the Great, with the most beautiful staircase we've seen in yearsThe ten bedroom property features an indoor swimming pool, jacuzzi, spa complex and stables, and it was restored by the same architect who worked on Downing Street.
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'Champagne is not simply a place, it’s a symbol of excellence': How a quiet rural region shrugged off war, famine and pestilence to become the home of the ultimate luxury tippleTen years ago today the French region was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but what did it take for Champagne to be listed and what’s changed for the area since then?
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The last miracle of St Boswell? How a Scottish potato field became the world's least-likely producer of sparkling wineThe country has produced its first ‘champagne’ after its producers, Lorna and Trevor Jackson, planted 1,000 vines nine years ago on their farm in St Boswells.
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40 miles of racket strings, 55,000 balls and 2.5 million strawberries: Wimbledon by the numbersHow many strawberries are consumed, how many petunias purchased and just how much racket string is required at the world’s oldest tennis championships? Lotte Brundle serves up the numbers.
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Chatsworth's winning £4 million Lottery ticket means it can restore beloved water featureThe Chatsworth House Trust will use the money from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to restore their Cascade — beloved by Alan Titchmarsh.
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From turtles to pink sea fans: Why Mediterranean marine life is drifting into British watersBoth leatherback sea turtles and the soft corrals’ presence near our shores coincides with our warming seas, Lotte Brundle writes.
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What do an order of Catholic priests and actor Hugh Bonneville have in common? They helped this West Sussex sparkling wine triumph over multiple French Champagne housesAfter being approached by a group of Catholic priests in 2006 to plant a vineyard, the power of the divine, and climate change, was on the winemaker Dermot Sugrue’s side.
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‘The perfect hostess, he called her’: A five minute guide to Virgina Woolf’s ‘Mrs Dalloway’To mark its centenary, Lotte Brundle delves into the lauded writer’s strange and poignant classic, set across a single summer’s day in 1920’s London.
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For every new stone mason, seven retire: St Paul's plan to save heritage crafts — and itself in the processAs St Paul’s Cathedral launches the Wren Centre of Excellence to train young people to repair Britain’s historic buildings, Lotte Brundle talks to restoration workers about why their industry is on a cliffs edge.
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'I take a box of watercolours and a sketchpad with me everywhere': Tess Newall's consuming passionsDecorative artist Tess Newall, best known for her bespoke murals and furniture, talks to Country Life about her prized collection of painted plates, her love of Thin Lizzy and her eclectic podcast taste.
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These are the 10 best places to live in the world — and nowhere in the UK or US made the cutLondon, Edinburgh, New York? Move over. Copenhagen is the place to be.
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At His Majesty’s pleasure: A woodland retreat for rent at SandringhamWith room for six guests, and with 20,000 acres on the doorstep, it would be folly to not get booking.
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Society sparkle: Nancy Astor and Ann Fleming’s diamond jewellery makes a splash at auctionAstor’s Cartier tiara was sold by Bonhams, while the accessories of the wife of the James Bond author went up for auction with Dreweatts.
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Game, set, match: Jack Draper, Lorenzo Musetti and Holger Rune to light up London's Giorgio Armani Tennis ClassicThe British number one leads the list of three top-10 players that will take to the courts at the 150-year-old Hurlingham Club in London from June 24–28.
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‘It's a bit like a pub, but without the requirement of being drunk’: Why we’re all hot for a countryside saunaThe sauna is the latest wellness trend — especially one immersed in Nature. Lotte Brundle dips into why the pastime has been heating up.
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The world’s most iconic handbag could be on your arm40 years after its conception, the original Hermès ‘Birkin’ bag, owned by the OG It Girl Jane Birkin, is going up for auction with Sotheby’s on July 10.
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The Salt Path: The 630-mile trail that saved one couple’s life and inspired Britain to lace up its walking shoesRaynor and Moth Winn were homeless and battling terminal illness when they made the decision to walk the South West Coast Path — and now Raynor’s best-selling book has been adapted for the big screen.
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Mawgan Creek: The unspoilt antidote to some of Cornwall's busier cornersThe creek feeds into the Helford river and is a short distance from Frenchman’s Creek, known best because of Daphne du Maurier’s 1941 novel of the same name.
