Country Life January 21, 2026

Clive Nichols's picture of the labyrinth of tulips and daffodils at Arundel Castle in West Sussex feature on the cover of Country Life January 21, 2026.

(Image credit: Clive Nichols / Country Life / Future)

Here's a look at some of what you'll find inside.

Feat of clay

Tiffany Daneff visits Whichford in Warwickshire and finds the future is bright for the traditional craft of hand-thrown pottery

Passing on the golden torch

Nurseryman David Carver is nurturing precious miniature daffodils for the next generation, as John Hoyland discovers

Through the garden gates

From Tremenheere in Cornwall to Bodnant in Conwy and Cambo in Fife, Country Life contributors reveal which glorious gardens are calling to them this year

Spreads from Country Life January 21, 2026

For I’ll be a wild drover

Patrick Laurie embarks on an evocative, historic journey of discovery when he drives cattle across the Scottish Highlands

Where the Wildings are

Ian Morton delves into the eccentric life of motorcar-mad Eileen Soper, illustrator of Enid Blyton’s ‘Famous Five’ series

Rooted in Nature

The remarkable role of plants in the modern, manmade world is laid bare in a new book. Harry Pearson investigates

Philippa Gregory’s favourite painting

The historian and author picks a work offering a glimpse into the rarefied sphere of monarchy

Country-house treasure

John Goodall admires the huge Cheshire Cat grin of a quirky 17th-century shell lion at Parham House in West Sussex

The legacy

Tiffany Daneff salutes the great wild-garden pioneer William Robinson, who was a Victorian horticulturist ahead of his time

Throw another log on the fire

Amelia Thorpe keeps the cold of winter at bay with a selection of stoves and firepits to keep you toasty out in the garden

‘Plucked down in one day’

David Robinson revisits the Anglo-Saxons and Kings of Mercia as he charts the history of Repton Priory in Derbyshire

The good stuff

Amie Elizabeth White embraces the January blues with a host of cheering, warming luxuries

Interiors

Bring a splash of colour to the kitchen with Amelia Thorpe’s choice of cookers and lighting

Winging it

Mark Cocker relishes the solemn and mysterious call of Britain’s best-loved owl — the tawny

Ode to the swede

Never mind the haggis, a humble root vegetable is the shining star of a traditional Burns Night supper, says Douglas Chalmers

Arts & antiques

There’s something decidedly fishy about Matthew Haley’s most prized piece of Victoriana, as he explains to Carla Passino

A study in sculpture

As a new four-volume catalogue explores the spectacular sculpture in the Royal Collection, its author Sir Jonathan Marsden reflects on 10 of his favourite pieces

And much more.

Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by His Majesty The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.