Country Life August 12, 2026

Country Life August 12, 2026, meets the churchwardens, our unsung heroes of village life. Plus, Tom Howells goes worm charming, we examine the radical Pre-Raphaelites and how the heatwaves are revealing long-lost gardens.

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A cover of Country Life, showing a cottage tucked into a hillside with a bursting colourful garden
(Image credit: Alan Copson/AWL Images/Future)

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

Bradley Hemmings’s favourite painting

The artistic director chooses a colourful work bursting with vitality and the spirit of summer.

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Country-house treasure

A Dante Alighieri illuminated manuscript catches the eye of John Goodall at Rockingham Castle in Northamptonshire.

A spread of Country Life magazine with two people who are church wardens

(Image credit: Country Life/Future)

Keepers of the keys

Tessa Waugh celebrates our dedicated churchwardens, the unsung heroes of village life who keep parishes ticking over.

The legacy

Kate Green salutes Dr William Stukeley for saving Stonehenge from destruction in the 1700s.

When we walked in fields of gold

England’s acres of harvested, honey-hued cereal fields have long provided artistic inspiration, finds Deborah Nicholls-Lee.

A spread of Country Life magazine showing a nice house

(Image credit: Country Life/Future)

A little object worth visiting

Romantic Dangan Cottage in Co Kilkenny has been restored to its late-18th-century glory, as John Goodall discovers.

Ghosts in the grass

A scorching summer is revealing country-house garden designs of yesteryear, as our pictures show.

Cuttings not cakes

The Secret Orchard Nursery in Derbyshire wins favour for its plants rather than pots of tea, to the delight of Arthur Parkinson.

A spread of Country Life magazine showing a bathroom

(Image credit: Country Life/Future)

Interiors

Arabella Youens admires the transformation of a South Downs Georgian gem, and everything’s gone green for Amelia Thorpe.

Travel

Rosie Paterson unpacks the latest travel trends, and Giles Kime stays at the Italian base of film director Francis Ford Coppola.

The French connection

Tom Parker Bowles is whisked to the summery South of France by freshly baked pissaladière, the delicious ‘Provençal pizza’.

A spread of Country Life magazine showing a man playing a trombone to some worms

(Image credit: Country Life/Future)

What lies beneath

Tom Howells is in eclectic company at the World Worm Charming Championships in Cheshire.

Luxury

Jonathan Self reveals why the tiara is the epitome of glamour, and Amie Elizabeth White is drawn to the fans of Duvelleroy.

A spread of Country Life magazine with some cows on it

(Image credit: Country Life/Future)

COUNTRY LIFE International

Julie Harding treads the Jersey Tidal Trail, savours scallops with chef Andrew Baird and celebrates the island’s 160 years of herd history, as Holly Kirkwood eyes top properties for sale and Claire Jackson hails a new era for opera.

Arts & antiques

Geoffrey Munn feels strangely drawn to the works of 18th-century art pariah Richard Dadd, as he explains to Carla Passino.

And much more

Country Life
Country Life

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.