Annunciata Elwes
Annunciata grew up in the wilds of Lancashire and now lives in Hampshire with a husband, two daughters and an awful pug called Parsley. She’s been floating round the Country Life office for more than a decade, her work winning the Property Magazine of the Year Award in 2022 (Property Press Awards). Before that, she had a two-year stint writing ‘all kinds of fiction’ for The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, worked in internal comms for Country Life’s publisher (which has had many names in recent years but was then called IPC Media), and spent another year researching for a historical biographer, whose then primary focus was Graham Greene and John Henry Newman and whose filing system was a collection of wardrobes and chests of drawers filled with torn scraps of paper. During this time, she regularly gave tours of 17th-century Milton Manor, Oxfordshire, which may or may not have been designed by Inigo Jones, and co-founded a literary, art and music festival, at which Johnny Flynn headlined. When not writing and editing for Country Life, Annunciata is also a director of TIN MAN ART, a contemporary art gallery founded in 2021 by her husband, James Elwes.
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Have your say in the Historic Houses Garden of the Year Awards 2025
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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Seeing you seeing me: How British artists portrayed each other in the 20th and 21st centuries
The 'Seeing Each Other: Portraits of Artists' exhibitions comprises paintings, prints, drawings, photography, sculpture and installation spanning 125 years.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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An idyllic countryside home that's light, spacious and comes with a Grade II-listed folly
Hagg House is a gorgeous family home that just happens to have a miniature castle in the gardens. Annabel Dixon explains more.
By Annabel Dixon Published
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'This is the funnest exhibition London has seen in recent memory': Grayson Perry’s new show at the Wallace Collection explores the delusions of a fictitious woman
'Delusions of Grandeur' at the Wallace Collection coincides with a selling exhibition of photography.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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The extraordinary Egyptian-style Leeds landmark hoping to become a second British Library — and they used to let sheep graze on the roof
The project has been awarded £10million from the Government, but will cost £70million in total.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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A converted medieval monastery set in 16 acres of Somerset that has a miniature castle as its poolhouse
Take a look at the historic and charming Ivythorn Manor.
By Annunciata Elwes Last updated
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Everything you might've missed last week — including the new Aston Martin
A lot has happened in the last few few days, from an Aston Martin reveal and new Rolex flagship store opening, to a case of mistaken identify at the Wallace Collection.
By Rosie Paterson Published
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Lady Jane Grey: How the Nine Day Queen lost her head, but found her face
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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Historic England acquires 8,000-strong collection of early landscape photographs
Janette Rosing's collection of 19th- and early-20th-century photographs is ‘of national significance’ says Historic England.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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'Designer, maker, influencer': How Glyndebourne plans to honour Oliver Messel's legacy this summer
A century on from his professional debut, Glyndebourne is to stage an exhibition celebrating the visionary 20th century stage designer.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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Hastings Contemporary extols life above and below the waves with two new exhibitions
The threat to fishing communities and the mysteries of life below the waves are explained in two new exhibitions at Hastings Contemporary, East Sussex.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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Dawn Chorus: How to travel around the world in 19 flowers and the Mini Moke that took St Moritz by storm
What do Charles Dickens, Henry VIII and Ellen Willmott all have in common? They all appear in a new book chronicling 19 flowers and the people responsible for bringing them to the UK. Find out how to get your hands on it, plus, we reveal why a rare Beach Boys-inspired Mini Moke turned up in a Swiss ski resort and a few of India Knight’s favourite things.
By Rosie Paterson Published
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Dawn Chorus: A Blue Plaque for Marc Bolan, holidaying in the Caribbean with Francis Ford Coppola and a history of the National Gallery in 25 pictures
Plus the best of the property pages, and how the railways will save the countryside.
By James Fisher Published
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A 17th century country house estate for sale in Yorkshire that's not too big and not too small
Take a look inside one of the finest private houses in the north of England that's perfectly manageable as a family house.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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A fairytale castle peeking above the treetops of Cumbria is for sale at just £2 million
Augill Castle has a wonderful backstory and a lifestyle business attached. .Annunciata Elwes tells more.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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The house that refused to die: Castle Howard's spectacular 21st-century renaissance
'Molten lead cascaded from the roof into the centre hall, and then the dome crashed to the ground, leaving the interior an inferno of blazing timber and shattered stonework.' 85 years on from the devastating fire at Castle Howard, restoration is still going on. Annunciata Elwes reports.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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How to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen
2025 marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth. Here are exhibitions, events and more — happening across the UK — that mark the occasion.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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'There seems to be little sympathy, understanding or respect for the kind of work that goes on in the world’s leading horticultural charity': Alan Titchmarsh calls for RHS Wisley compensation
The RHS estimates that it will lose £11 million from ongoing roadworks on Junction 10 of the M25 — enough to fund 15 NHS wellbeing gardens.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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Eastern promise: Mandarin Oriental opens a second London hotel on Hanover Square
What exactly is Mayfair's first new build hotel to open in more than a decade like? We sent Annunciata Elwes to find out.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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Good news for South London's most famous dinosaurs as the National Heritage Lottery Fund set to spend £30 million on its 30th anniversary
Castles, railway stations and Victorian dinosaurs are among the beneficiaries as the National Lottery Heritage Fund announces its latest plans.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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Hedgehog numbers have plunged in the last 20 years — but help is at hand
Annunciata Elwes reports on the new National Hedgehog Conservation Strategy that's been created by two key conservation organisations.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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You had me at merlot: The rise of English wine and what it means for the countryside
For the first time, the UK is home to more than 1,000 vineyards — and counting.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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The Store review: Oxford’s newest luxury hotel on the site of the old department store, Boswells
Swapping clothing and haberdashery for king-size beds and cocktails, the transformation of Boswells into The Store Hotel is cleverly done, finds Annunciata Elwes.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
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London as you've never seen it — and as you'll never see it again
The East End of London has changed rapidly in recent years, but photographer Paul Trevor chronicled it from the 1970s to the 1990s. His images have been collected in a new book, Market Day.
By Annunciata Elwes Published