Country Life May 27, 2026
Country Life May 27, 2026, covers Doddington Hall, wine merchants, playing polo and the highlights of the Chelsea Flower Show.
Here's a look at some of what you'll find inside.
Taking the sylvan path
Gardens with a woodland slant caught the eye of judges at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, reports Kathryn Bradley-Hole
A lawyer’s fortune
In the first of two articles, John Goodall traces the history of Doddington Hall, Lincolnshire, an eminent Elizabethan creation
Swing low, sweet chukkas
Rupert Uloth meets patrons, players and ponies as he examines the widespread attraction of low-goal polo
Running notes
Never mind walking on water, the delightful dipper can amble underwater, as John Lewis-Stempel will happily testify
A lot of bottle
Gabriel Stone toasts the rise and rise of independent wine merchants serving rural areas
Maurice Gran’s favourite painting
The playwright and author picks a fruit-laden still life that looks good enough to eat
Country-house treasure
John Goodall marvels at a gang of grotesques holding up the roof of Baron’s Hall at Penshurst, Kent
The legacy
Will Hosie lauds Princess Sophia Duleep Singh and her fight for women’s financial independence
Playing with time
Anyone for knurr and spell? Harry Pearson laments the loss of traditional pub games from our rural sporting landscape
Interiors
Giles Kime reveals how George Saumarez Smith’s Country Life garden lover’s library blossomed at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Out and about
Country Life hosts a celebration of its award-winning stand at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Winging it
Hitchcock’s The Birds gave the black-backed gull a bad name. Mark Cocker profiles the unloved, but efficient predator of our coast
Luxury
Amie Elizabeth White seeks out the very best in hotels, holdalls and more, plus a few of designer Simon Holloway’s favourite things
Three is a magic number
Tilly Ware applauds the revival of the walled garden at Holme Hale Hall in Norfolk, where Arne Maynard has worked his magic
Richard Bloom photographed Holme Hale Hall for Country Life.
Travel
With the Kent coastline under-going an Arts-led revival, Ben Olsen visits Margate, the home town of Dame Tracey Emin
All the world’s a canvas
Theatrical luminaries from David Garrick to Nell Gwyn and Ellen Terry took centre stage in the art of their day, finds Michael Prodger
Arts & antiques
Art dealer James Mitchell is at his happiest behind the wheel of his treasured Austin Healey 3000, as he tells Carla Passino
And much more
