In this issue

Confessions of a lifetime
Having published his memoirs, author A. N. Wilson talks to Jane Wheatley about school, marriage, faith and poetry.

LONDON LIFE
Along the River Thames, the rebirth of the War Office and Penelope Chilvers’s city secrets.

Go with the flow

The banks of the River Thames are littered with historical houses and royal residences, says Carla Passino, who advocates experiencing them all on a walk upstream

5 mins

Old in name, but not in nature

Six years ago, the Government sold the War Office– Sir Winston Churchill’s former haunt and the heart of First and Second World War logistics–on a 250-year lease. On the eve of its rebirth as a luxury hotel, Clive Aslet looks back its extraordinary history

5 mins

Lily of the Valley by Charlotte Verity

My favourite painting Shane Connolly

1 min

The Great Tower, Dover Castle

WHETHER the Norman Conquest of England was, as maintained by those notable authorities W. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman in 1066 And All That, ‘a good thing’ has been much debated by scholars.

2 mins

Confessions of a lifetime

The author on the painful memories evoked in his new memoir

4 mins

Playing with history

A post-Modern livery hall that is a striking home for an ancient company can teach us something about sensitive development in London.

7 mins

The 21st-century country house

At this month's Focus/22, COUNTRY LIFE will host an event at which interior designer Emma Sims-Hilditch will discuss the changing face of the English country house

1 min

‘I gave up my career for the Sealyham’

A lot of vulnerable native breeds have their fans, but not all have someone as determined to save them as Harry Parsons. Julie Harding travels to Sealyham HQ to meet his latest litter of puppies

6 mins

Family affairs

Past grandeurs flourish again at two elegant country houses, one overlooking Blenheim Palace and the other rolling Hampshire parkland

4 mins

Field trials

The Prairie at The Barn, Serge Hill, Hertfordshire The home of Mr and Mrs Tom Stuart-Smith

5 mins

The secret to growing coriander

CORIANDER might be the most global of herbs, bold enough to combine with flavours from lemongrass to chilli in food cultures as diverse as Indian and Mexican.

3 mins

In the dead of the nightshade

Employed by Roman archers to poison arrows, by emperors' wives to achieve widowhood and by Cleopatra to enhance her beauty, folklore has not exaggerated the fatal tendencies of belladonna

6 mins

Read all stories from Country Life UK

Country Life UK Magazine Description:

Country Life; architecture, gardens, countryside, property, the very best of British life Published by IPC Media. Country Life, the quintessential English magazine, is undoubtedly one of the biggest and instantly recognisable brands in the UK today. It has a unique core mix of contemporary country-related editorial and top end property advertising. Editorially, the magazine comments in-depth on a wide variety of subjects, such as architecture, the arts, gardens and gardening, travel, the countryside, field-sports and wildlife. With renowned columnists and superb photography Country Life delivers the very best of British life every week.