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Country Life's 'unusually hurried and ill-composed photographs' of a curious home eviscerated by The BlitzRadnor House was unfashionable... until it wasn't.
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The rise and ruin of an Elizabethan Hall that tried in vain to prepare a war poet for the trenchesWilfred Owen was one of a myriad First World War troops who learned the art of trench warfare at Park Hall.
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Thomas Becket, a lion and the author of 'Out of Africa' all lived in this medieval monastery photographed for Country LifeMelanie Bryan recounts the fascinating history of Haverholme Priory.
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Even a visit from Queen Mary couldn't save this 15th-century Yorkshire mansion from Britain's coal industryMethley Hall surpassed everyone's expectations and managed to stay standing long beyond its time.
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Bird poo fuelled the First World War and also financed this manor house with a plant collection that rivals KewMelanie Bryan recounts the green-tinged history of Aldenham House.
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The great Tudor hall that housed the guillotine probably used on Marie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette was executed by guillotine on October 16, 1793. Rumour has is that the exact same machine found its way to Weald Hall in Essex where it was photographed by Country Life.
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This remarkable timbered home was preserved for 300 years — and then flattened by a earlLynmore Hall was inextricably linked to the fall and rise of the British monarchy, but it only took a humble earl to finish it off.
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The unpublished photographs of a gargantuan Victorian mansion whose bulldozed remains were dumped in its own ornamental lakeWarter Priory was once a prime example of peak Victoriana architecture and interior design — but it met a watery end.
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'It contained a hippopotamus, which lived in the Billiards Room': The strange country house that gave way to a crematoriumMelanie Bryan traces the history of Muntham Court and its eccentric residents.
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A lost Surrey garden infested with peacocks and influenced by Gertrude JekyllValewood Farm and gardens was described as 'straying into a Hans Christian Andersen fairy story'
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Felled by a pair of cursed shoes — the butterfly-shaped house that Lutyens builtMelanie Bryan investigates the spooky and eccentric history of Papillon Hall.
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What do Rihanna and a 19th century vegetarian activist have in common? This sprawling Tudor house that American money couldn't saveMelanie Bryan traces the history of Cassiobury House — and its bohemian inhabitants.
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The never-before-seen, 70-year-old photographs of Pugin's Bishop's House that Parliament destroyed to make room for a ring roadMelanie Bryan tells the tale of a Gothic Revival bishop's residence in Birmingham that lives on only in the Country Life Archive.
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The pen is mightier than dynamite: A truly unique 20th-century building destroyed by the wrong paperworkWhat happens when you accidentally knock down the wrong Fonthill House.
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House of the Dragon: The Elizabethan mansion protected by a fire-breathing beast — until it wasn'tMelanie Bryan recounts the fascinating story of Drakelow Hall.
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The financier, racing driver and prolific party animal who saved — and then lost — one of the 20th century's most notable country housesArdenrun Place was a short-lived yet architecturally notable English country house. Melanie Bryan tells its tale.
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These rarely-seen photographs of the Prince’s Palace of Monaco were taken by a world-renowned photographer and rediscovered in the Country Life ArchiveCountry Life contributor Geoffrey Roland Ballance died too young, but some of his finest work lives on in our Archive, finds Melanie Bryan.
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Monarchs, Rothschilds and ruin: The extraordinary tale of one of Britain’s most beautiful moated homesRushbrooke Hall was arguably one of Britain's most beautiful and romantic-looking homes. But, like most of the houses in this series, it's demise was brutal.
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Why one of Cornwall's oldest and most definitely haunted houses burned to the ground — 30 years after it was photographed for Country LifeMelanie Bryan traces the history of Treworgey Manor, built during the reign of Henry VIII.
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Built for a pretender to the Scottish throne, consumed by a coalfield: The doom of Hamilton PalaceAt its zenith, Hamilton Palace rivalled Buckingham Palace in size — but when it was photographed for Country Life, its days were already numbered, says Melanie Bryan.
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The 17th century Devon home that inspired a smoking ban and lives on only inside the Country Life ArchiveOnce upon a time, no one batted an eyelid at smoking in public places — including inside listed buildings. Melanie Bryan investigates why that began to change in the 1960s.
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The Titanic cruise line baron who revitalised the fortunes of an entire village sold through the pages of Country LifeMelanie Bryan tells the story of James Ismay whose countryside labour of love featured in Country Life multiple times.
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A house lost, a landscape reborn: The story of Worsley New HallThe property now known as RHS Bridgewater conceals a fascinating history.
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The owners of this Palladian masterpiece amassed an enviable collection of exotic plants before it all burned to the groundMelanie Bryan digs into the Country Life Archive to find out how it all went so wrong at Carclew, in Cornwall.
