Tag Archives: Country Life Magazine

Gardens, Homes, Travel, Views

Cotswolds Views: Weavers Mill House Near Painswick

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Located amongst the rolling valleys of Pitchcombe and within walking distance of the pretty village of Painswick, is Weavers Mill: A lovely family home with truly breathtaking gardens that lies on the Painswick stream. 

From its heyday as a mill, Weavers Mill, in Pitchcombe, has kept intact its original waterwheel and bucolic setting. It comes with beautiful gardens of about one acre, bordered by a stream, and another eight acres of grazing land with spring-fed pond.

The gardens extend both banks of the stream, interjected by bridges and peaceful corners that can be reached by rowing boat, including a small island flanked by a palm tree, providing the most idyllic setting.

The first floor reception rooms make the most of the delightful views, with the breakfast room and connecting conservatory opening up to the glorious gardens. The house also has a range of outbuildings including two garages, sheds and further storage units towards the far end of the grounds.

Boats, Homes, Lifestyle, Stories, Views

London Views: Houseboat Living On Regent’s Canal

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From Chelsea to the canals, Londoners are taking to the water in search of a more peaceful way of life on a houseboat. Jo Rodgers clambers aboard.

Not far from World’s End, the Chelsea neighbourhood of 1970s council blocks and top-tier antique dealers, there’s a turn-off toward the Thames that you could pass 100 times without noticing. Next to the Embankment, a pair of planked wooden doors open to a quiet boatyard with a few handfuls of moorings, including the sunny houseboat of Alexandra Pringle, a publisher, and her husband, Rick Stroud, a writer and film-maker. A sturdy green gangway (‘the Waitrose delivery drivers are sometimes very nervous,’ says Alexandra) takes you over the riverbank to a red front door, flanked by hale plants, in terracotta pots and dolly bins, and a brass ship bell.

Historical, Homes, Profiles, Stories, Views

English Country Houses: Ancient ‘Hunton Court’ Near Maidstone In Kent

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Hunton Court is an ancient house hiding behind a breathtaking Georgian facade, and all set in a truly beautiful corner of Kent.

Take a quick look at Hunton Court — near Maidstone, in Kent — and you’d immediately mark it down as an 18th century country house. Yet its true origins lie many centuries earlier: it’s a building that hides its timbered origins behind a Georgian look.

The house, once known as Court Lodge, had a turbulent history: first built in the 13th century and part of an estate that had belonged to the Canterbury’s Christ Church Priory, it was handed to Sir Thomas Wyatt, Henry VIII’s High Sheriff for Kent, after the Dissolution of Monasteries.

Architecture, History, Homes, Stories, Views

Tudor Architecture: A History Of 16th Century English Great Houses

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Country Life’s architecture editor John Goodall looks at the architecture of the Tudor home.

In April 1521, Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, was urgently summoned from his seat at Thornbury, Gloucestershire, to appear before Henry VIII. The Duke could reasonably claim by birth to be the outstanding nobleman of his generation, boasting descent from Edward III and—arguably—possessed of a better claim to the throne than the Tudors.

He played the role of a great nobleman with proud perfection, both at home and in such public events as Henry VIII’s meeting with Francis I of France on the Field of Cloth of Gold, where he jousted and appeared in costume of fabulous expense. His birth and magnificence, however, also made him vulnerable to Court intrigue.

Hospitality, Reviews, Tourism, Travel, Views

Caribbean Stays: Cap Maison On Saint Lucia

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Cap Maison, an iconic boutique hotel on the North of the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia, is a perfect example.

Quietly understated with staff so full of joy, it was hard not to be swept along with the wonderful atmosphere, as you soak up  jaw-dropping views out to sea and bask in the sound of waves that are audible — and visible —  from the vast beds, fitted with cloud-like bedding.

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Gardens, Homes, Stories, Tours, Travel, Views

English Manors: Great Maytham Hall In Kent, ‘The Secret Garden’ Source

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Architecture, Homes, Stories, Tours, Travel, Views

Home Tours: The Broad Gate In Ludlow, England

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The Broad Gate in Ludlow, Shropshire — the home of Sir Keith and Lady Thomas — is a 13th-century fortification that defined medieval Ludlow has been transformed into a Georgian townhouse. John Goodall examines its remarkable story and restoration, with photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.

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Homes, Stories, Tours, Travel, Views

Tours: English Writer Evelyn Waugh’s ‘Combe Florey House’ In Somerset

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In the depths of Somerset, near the Quantock Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Exmoor National Park, you’ll find Combe Florey House. 

It’s a regal 18th century Elizabethan manor house, composed of red ashlar sandstone (in the style of renowned architect James Gibbs) that has some of the most spectacular views over the surrounding luscious green countryside we’ve come across.

A manor house has been on the site for many centuries, but the previous building was destroyed in the Civil War, and the present 17th century house was extensively remodelled by William Frauncies in 1730. The property was sold to the Perring family in 1799 and sold again in 1896 to the Batchelor family before being purchased by the writer Evelyn Waugh as his family home in 1956.

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Travel, Videos, Views

Scenic Drives: The Snake Pass, Peak District, UK

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Snake Pass slithers across the Pennines between the market town of Glossop and Ladybower Reservoir’s Y-shaped valley. This route, one of Britain’s most scenic drives, opened by George VI in 1945.

Snake Pass over the Pennines, Derbyshire, England, Europe