May
The 250th anniversaries of both the painter J. M. W Turner and the writer Jane Austen will be celebrated with an exhibition at Harewood House.
May 2–4 BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair, Beaulieu, Hampshire
May 2–October 19 Austen and Turner: A Country House Encounter, Harewood House, West Yorkshire
May 3–5 Spring Fine Food Market, Burghley, Lincolnshire
A fun fact about Doddington Hall
Still a family home today, Doddington Hall was inherited by Colonel George Jarvis in 1930 and the owners are his direct descendants. The Hall contains a rather marvellous library,
May 3–5 Hertfordshire Garden Show, Knebworth
May 4 Bluebell & Wild Garlic Sunday, Pencarrow, Cornwall
May 5 Dawn Chorus Birdwatch, Doddington Hall, Lincolnshire
May 7–11 MARS Badminton Horse Trials, Badminton, Gloucestershire (advance tickets only)
May 8 Old Time Sailors concert, Cambo estate, Fife
May 17–18 Goodwoof, Goodwood, West Sussex
May 25–26 Living Heritage Game and Country Fair, Burghley, Lincolnshire
May 24–26 The Queen’s Joust, Leeds Castle, Kent
June
Who dunnit at Picton Castle? This will likely be the question on everyone's lips when the venue hosts a Murder Mystery Evening in late June.
June 4–July 6 The Grange Festival, The Grange, Hampshire
June 5 Twelfth Night, Athelhampton House, Dorset
June 5 Jazz on the Tea Terrace, Kelmarsh Hall, Northamptonshire
June 8 LEAF Open Farm Sunday, Gaddesden estate, Hertfordshire
June 21 Murder Mystery Evening, Picton Castle, Pembrokeshire
Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire will host a photography exhibition on Jewish country houses.
Until June 22 Discovering Jewish Country Houses: Photographs by Hélène Binet, Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire
June 7–8 Homes & Gardens Fair, Boughton House, Northamptonshire
June 21–22 Painting the Walled Garden Oil Painting Workshop, Holkham Hall, Norfolk
July
Leeds Castle in Kent will play host to a concert in July which will feature a Spitfire fly-over and a fireworks display.
A fun fact about Goodwood
The race track at Goodwood was once the perimeter road of RAF Westhampnett, a Second World War airfield. It was used to train pilots during the Battle of Britain.
July 3 Old Time Sailors, Hedingham Castle, Essex
July 4–6 Paradhis Festival, Boconnoc, Cornwall
July 4–6 GWCT Scottish Game Fair, Scone Palace, Perthshire
July 10–13 Festival of Speed, Goodwood, West Sussex
July 12 Battle Proms Concert, Burghley, Lincolnshire
July 12 The Leeds Castle Concert, Leeds Castle, Kent
July 12–13 The Flower and Garden Show, Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire
July 17–20 The Wild Gardens Festival, Port Eliot, Cornwall
July 20 Cowdray Park Polo Gold Cup final, West Sussex
July 25–27 The Game Fair, Ragley Hall, Warwickshire
August
Bear Grylls probably won't be allowed to go wild in one of the bedrooms at Holkham Hall in Norfolk when he hosts his 'Gone Wild Festival' in the grounds, in August.
August 2 Battle Proms, Highclere Castle, Hampshire
August 3 Tudorly Terrible History, Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire
August 7–10 Gone Wild Festival with Bear Grylls, Holkham Hall, Norfolk
August 9–10 Motors By The Moat, Leeds Castle, Kent
August 9–10 Galloway Country Fair, Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfriesshire
Fun fact about Drumlanrig Castle
It has been used as a filming location for, not only the TV series Outlander, which starred Caitriona Balfeand, but also the the Apple TV series The Buccaneers.
August 20 Romeo and Juliet, Beaulieu, Hampshire
August 21–24 Leeds Festival, Bramham Park, West Yorkshire
August 29–31 Chatsworth Country Fair, Derbyshire
September
The Agria FEI Eventing European Championships will take place at Blenheim Palace in September.
September 4–7 Defender Burghley Horse Trials, Lincolnshire
September 12–14 Goodwood Revival, Goodwood, West Sussex
September 18–21 Agria FEI Eventing European Championships, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire. Private country-house tours are also available.
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This converted mill is the epitome of bucolic beauty and its grounds were masterminded by one of the finest garden designers alive todayHunworth Mill is the very picture of bucolic bliss, with exquisite gardens created by Arne Maynard.
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A romantic view of the countryside, hungry fish, and the world's most popular language: Country Life's Quiz of the Day, August 8, 2025Test your general knowledge in Friday's Quiz of the Day.
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Reading al fresco: The best places in London to get lost in the written word, according to the Country Life teamIn London, north, east, south and west, there's a public place suitable for all performative acts of reading.
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Marsh Harriers: The wetland-loving bird that defied the odds to reconquer British skiesMark Cocker's first ever sighting of the bird was at Minsmere, Suffolk, in 1976 — and he's never forgotten it.
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Louis Wain: The Edwardian artist who was 'perhaps the best PR cats have ever had'The artist's fascination with cats is the subject of a show at Chris Beetles Gallery which will feature 25 previously unseen works by Wain.
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Killer whales: The perilously rare and super-smart predator we risk loosing from British waters foreverThey’ve recently made headlines for interfering with boats, but intelligent, family-focused and remarkably long-lived orcas–better known as killer whales–contain multitudes.
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‘Though she be but little, she is fierce’: Everything you didn't know about sparrowhawksScourge of the bird feeder and a master of ‘shock and awe’ assassinations, the sparrowhawk pursues its quarry with such tenacity and unpredictability that it often blindsides its prey.
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An ode to Britain's wildflowers, from the London bloom which grew in the craters of the Blitz, to the weather-predicting scarlet pimpernelDecorating the land with their brilliant and varied hues, our native flora which operate as clocks, calendars and Nature’s medicine cabinet are blooming brilliant, says John Lewis-Stempel.
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Sophia Money-Coutts: If I’m sending a thank you card to a friend, do I really have to address it to ‘Mrs W Butler’ as if it’s 1928?Sophia Money-Coutts is the new Debrett's and she's here every Wednesday to set some modern etiquette wrongs, right.
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'F1 on water': SailGP makes a splash in PortsmouthSix years after it was founded, SailGP has got the wind behind its sails. What makes this sport, dubbed 'F1 on water', so compelling?
