2,000 years of fountains, from Roman Britain to a 300ft modern masterpiece in Gloucestershire
The fountain has a long and fascinating history in England, from the Roman period to the present day, as John Goodall reveals.
Architecture
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'The best of all worlds': Francis Terry's Woodford Hill Farm blends 18th, 19th and 21st centuries
Woodford Hill Farm in Northamptonshire is a new country house that addresses the challenge of combining the traditional architectural forms of its locality with flexible and modern living spaces. Jeremy Musson reports, with photography by Will Pryce for Country Life.
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La Corbière lighthouse: How 'the herdsman of the waves' has protected the Channel for 150 years
A feat of pioneering Victorian engineering, La Corbière lighthouse has guided seafarers to safety for 150 years, finds Antonia Windsor.
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The chapel of Lincoln College, Oxford: 'Most costly and church-wise'
John Goodall describes the 17th-century expansion of Lincoln College, Oxford, to include an outstanding chapel, amid a bitter personal clash between two strong-willed men, and the institution’s evolution to the present day. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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The history of Lincoln College, Oxford: Salvaging the vine
John Goodall describes the initiative of a Bishop of Lincoln to establish Lincoln College, Oxford, and the long struggle to bring it to fruition. Photography by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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The extravagant seaside splendours of the south coast's most exotic museum
Created for Merton Russell-Cotes’s wife in 1901 and then given to the town, the dazzling interiors of the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum in Bournemouth capture the spirit of the Victorian seaside, says Kathryn Ferry. Photography by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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The world's most beautiful theatre, and the visionary who created it with manual labour 'plus a few sticks of dynamite'
Kate Green tells the story of the extraordinary Minack Theatre, carved by hand into a Cornish cliffside.
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How the spectacular Wolterton Hall went from Georgian splendour to a Palladian masterpiece you can rent by the weekend
John Goodall looks at the way in which Wolterton Hall, Norfolk, was awakened from sleep as a modern home and place of entertainment. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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The origins of Wolterton Hall
John Goodall looks at Wolterton Hall, Norfolk — former home of Keith Day and Peter Sheppard — to analyse the creation of a new country house by Horace Walpole, a figure in the front rank of political and diplomatic life in the 18th century. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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How 'an insatiable appetite for brass-band music' gave rise to the bandstand, and how we almost lost them all
From Handel to Bowie, our bandstands have been a hub for free live music for centuries, as well as being buildings of architectural interest.
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'What else can you do but say "it's completely disgusting"?': Britain's worst new buildings, with Charlie Baker and the Carbuncle Cup
The Carbuncle Cup returns after a six-year hiatus. Competition judge and magazine editor Charlie Baker speaks to James Fisher about why pointing out bad architecture matters.
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Gatewick: The 'Georgian' house that was built from scratch in the 1950s
A combination of discerning architectural improvement and collecting in 1950s Sussex created Gatewick — the former home of Charles, James and Primrose Yorke — as a modern country house in the 18th-century spirit. John Martin Robinson reports. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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Elegant and congruous: How Hartland Abbey draws together eight centuries of architectural and family history
John Goodall looks at the history of Hartland Abbey in Devon after the Reformation, and its descent in the hands of one family to the present.
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Hartland Abbey: The beautiful Devon house behind which lies 1,500 years of history
David Robinson visits Hartland Abbey in Devon, a seat of Sir Hugh and Lady Stucley, starting from its nebulous medieval origins as an ancient religious site associated with the cult of St Nectan.
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How the country houses of Britain proved perfect for the Allied Forces to get ready for D-Day
Country houses great and small were indispensable to D-Day preparations, with electricity and sanitation, well-stocked wine cellars, countesses to run the canteens and antique furniture to feed the stoves, says Allan Mallinson.
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Russell House: A Broadway sensation
Russell House in Broadway, Worcestershire, is a Cotswold house beloved by an important Edwardian Anglo-American artistic circle. Now, it has been revived and restored; John Martin Robinson tells its remarkable story. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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The history of Covent Garden: 500 years of the world's most famous market
It’s half a century since Covent Garden’s eponymous market travelled south of the River Thames, but it did little to dent the area’s appeal. Jack Watkins charts the history of Covent Garden from Tudor times to the present day.
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Stansted Park in the 20th century: The private made public
John Goodall traces the 20th-century evolution of Stansted Park, West Sussex, and its current revival in the care of an independent charitable trust, the Stansted Park Foundation. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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Stansted Park, West Sussex: From royal favourite to stranger’s heir
John Goodall looks at the stages by which a medieval hunting lodge developed from the 17th century to become a great country house: Stansted Park, West Sussex, a property of the Stansted Park Foundation. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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'We cannot have beauty without paying for it': The glorious revival of Rochdale's Town Hall
A major restoration project has brought one of Britain's greatest Victorian buildings back to splendour and life. Steven Brindle explains the extraordinary story of how it came to be.
