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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.
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How did a staircase from this Reformation-era country house end up on the other side of the world?Melanie Bryan takes a look at the intriguing history and sad ending of Beaudesert Hall.
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Ancient time-telling devices — turned garden ornaments — from the Country Life ArchiveMan has been consumed by time and how to tell it for millennia. Sundials are an important part of this history and there are plenty of pictures of them — in some of Britain's most beautiful gardens — hiding in the Country Life Archive.
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One of the first substantial buildings constructed from cast iron lives on only in the Country Life ArchiveThe London Coal Exchange enabled City merchants to buy and sell coal across the world. Despite this magazine's best efforts, it was destroyed in the 1960s.
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From baroque masterpiece to the UKs most picturesque motor circuit: The tragic tale of Oulton Park and its inhabitantsOne hundred years ago, Oulton Park — whose family had already been torn apart by the First World War — was consumed by fire.
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Gibside: The curious roofless castle where The King's ancestor was kidnappedGibside flourished under coal baron George Bowes but his heiress daughter, Mary Eleanor, nearly lost it all to her deceitful second husband.
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What binds the Queen Mother and Chicago's first department store? A lost castle that was blown to smithereens by the Territorial ArmyStreatlam Castle was one of the Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne three principal seats.
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Fashion fit for the Winter Olympics (sort of) from the Country Life ArchiveThe Country Life Archive is a gold mine of inspiring winter fashion, finds Melanie Bryan.
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The magnificent London mansion that Country Life mourned when it was demolished to make room for the Dorchester HotelDorchester House was once the epicentre of late-Victorian society.
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The striking Arts & Crafts country home with interiors by William Morris that disappeared without a traceRounton Grange was built using profits from the Industrial Revolution, but couldn't quite survive the economic difficulties unleashed by the Second World War
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Lord Byron, Charles Dickens and Sir Walter Scott once dined at this Jacobean mansion in London. Destroyed by The Blitz it lives on now only in the Country Life ArchiveLord Byron jockeyed for position at the table alongside Lord Melbourne and Benjamin Disraeli. Charles Dickens and Sir Walter ScottThe Holland House estate was once London's best example of early domestic Jacobean architecture in the country.
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The Picturesque Scottish castle built on land admired by Robert Burns and erased by warDunglass Castle, in Scotland, was once a vision of 18th century Picturesque beauty. Now it lives on only in the Country Life Archive.
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Find out what remains of the colossal country house whose 'corpulent buffoon' of an owner had it blown up with vast quantities of gunpowderMelanie Bryan revisits Eastbury Park in Dorset — which was photographed for Country Life 99 years ago, decades after large parts of it were demolished.
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Mystifying Christmas present suggestions that once appeared in the pages of Country LifeEvery Monday, Melanie Bryan, delves into the hidden depths of Country Life's extraordinary archive to bring you a long-forgotten story, photograph or advert.
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Four festive recipes from the Country Life Archive that have (thankfully) fallen out of favourEvery Monday, Melanie Bryan delves into the hidden depths of Country Life's extraordinary archive to bring you a long-forgotten story, photograph or advert.
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This Grade I Essex home was renovated by a Guinness and a notorious American diarist and photographed by Country Life — now it's a firm favourite with the fashion setKelvedon Hall was saved from demolition by Lady Honor Guinness and Henry 'Chips' Channon. Now it is the star of a Church's Christmas campaign.
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Ten of the most exquisite French châteaux, photographed for Country Life in 1906 and still standing todayIn the early 20th century, Country Life commissioned Frederick H. Evans to photograph some of France's châteaux. Here are some of his efforts.
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All fired up: 12 of our favourite chimneys, from grand architectural statements to modest brick stacks, as seen in Country LifeNothing says winter like a roaring fire, and plenty of the houses that we've photographed for the magazine's architectural places have fireplaces and chimneys worth boasting about.
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Only a handful of Britain's great houses were photographed by Country Life in a ruinous state. This once splendid Gothic castle is one of themThis is the tragic tale of Tong Castle, a once great Georgian-Gothic castle that was eventually consumed by Nature.
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Where is 'The Traitors' filmed? Inside the Scottish castle sold via the pages of Country Life three times for an unbelievable amountMelanie Bryans delves into the Country Life archives and uncloaks the history of the turreted Highland castle made famous by the global TV franchise, 'The Traitors'.
