Samuel Lysons: The man who revealed the Roman Cotswolds
The antiquarian Samuel Lysons played an important role in recording the Roman villas of the Cotswolds. Clive Aslet looks at his remarkable career and methods.
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The tale of Knebworth: How does your garden village grow?
A garden city planned by Sir Edwin Lutyens was never brought to completion. Plans to redevelop it today, however, threaten to destroy the character of what was created. Clive Aslet reports.
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Hollywood comes to the Home counties in a Surrey home inspired by Spanish villas and Irish castles
A stylish 1920s home brought the glamour of the theatre and Hollywood, as well as the most recent fashions of healthy living, to an incomparable Surrey setting, as Clive Aslet explains. Photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.
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Crosby Moran Hall, London: A collector’s palace
Crosby Moran Hall is an outstanding celebration of the Tudor and Stuart worlds that has passed another important milestone in its history. Clive Aslet reports.
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Castle Drogo: The extraordinary challenge of building a castle in the 20th century — and saving it from ruin in the 21st
In the second of two articles on Castle Drogo in Devon — a property of the National Trust — Clive Aslet looks at the challenges of building a 20th-century castle and the recent work of the National Trust to restore it.
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Castle Drogo: How Sir Edwin Lutyens created a place of exceptional refinement and beauty
Castle Drogo sits atop its perch in Dartmoor, Devon, one of the National Trust's most striking articles. In the first of two articles on Castle Drogo's history, Clive Aslet reveals how a fascination with ancestry encouraged a wealthy Edwardian businessman to enlist the help of Sir Edwin Lutyens to build a new castle. Main image by Robert Harding; other photographs by Dylan Thomas for Country Life.
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'One of the wonders of Oxford': A look at the extraordinary Campion Hall
In the second of two articles, Clive Aslet looks at the furnishing of Campion Hall, particularly the treatment of the chapel, one of the city’s outstanding interiors. Photographs by Will Pryce.
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Campion Hall, Oxford: How Sir Edwin Lutyens cut his fees to secure the job — and ended up creating 'his best building'
The task of creating a Jesuit hall in Oxford in the 1930s was eagerly assumed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. In the first of two articles on Campion Hall, Oxford, Clive Aslet reveals the story of this remarkable building.
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Sir Christopher Wren: The life and times of a legendary architect, from 'miracle of a youth' to national treasure
Personable, yet naturally reserved, ‘that miracle of a youth, Mr Christopher Wren’ not only designed many of our most notable monuments, but also an artificial eye. Three centuries on from his death, Clive Aslet considers the man behind the architecture.
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Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland: The spectacular border town with a castle that changed hands 13 times
Berwick-upon-Tweed spent centuries as a pawn in Anglo-Scottish conflict; today, it's a charming border town with spectacular sights. Clive Aslet takes a look.
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Laxton, Nottinghamshire: The 21st century village still using a medieval farming system
Open field strip farming has almost entirely disappeared from Britain in the past 1,000 years — though there is one great exception: Laxton.
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Winchester College: The school that's survived six centuries of turmoil, including the sacking of the city around it
Winchester College is both a school for the lucky few and an architectural marvel, says Clive Aslet.
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Caernarfon Castle, Gwynedd: 'One of the great buildings of the Middle Ages'
Wales is spoilt for beautiful, evocative and dramatic castles in magnificent locations — yet still Caernarfon Castle stands above the rest.
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Canterbury Cathedral: Architectural wonder, place of worship, and site of one of history's most infamous murders
Canterbury Cathedral is the seat of the Church of England, the end of the nation's most famous pilgrimage route, and a place where 1400 years of history can be seen.
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Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire: The story of Robin Hood's woods
The ancient hunting grounds of William the Conqueror are famed across the world as the hiding place of the legendary outlaw Robin Hood.
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The Island of Ely, Cambridgeshire: Where 85ft above sea level is almost a mountain
Clive Aslet takes a look at Ely, the beautiful and ancient city that can be seen from miles around in the Fens.
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Battle, East Sussex: The site of the battle 'that permanently changed the course of history in England and beyond'
The Battle of Hastings didn't actually take place in Hastings, but a few miles north — and you can still visit the site of perhaps the most consequential battle ever to take place on English soil.
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Glastonbury, Somerset: The place where the Holy Grail came to Britain
The ancient town of Glastonbury is synonymous without spirituality, mysticism and legend — and it's an unmissable stop-off on our list of places in the 21st century Grand Tour of Britain.
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Lindisfarne, Northumberland: The Holy Island with a castle, priory and 1,500 years of history
Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, has 1,500 years of recorded history and remains as popular as ever with pilgrims of all kinds. Clive Aslet takes a look at its history, and tells the tale of how Country Life's founder bought and transformed this ancient spot.
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Chapel of St Peter on the Wall, Essex: 'The deepest living root of the church in Britain'
Our 21st century Grand Tour of Britain moves on to an ancient church in Essex.
