In this issue

An ode to ancient customs
Country-house poetry of the 17th century reflects themes of hospitality and retirement. Clive Aslet finds home comforts.

One of a kind
The revival of interest in British craftsmanship has everything to do with uniqueness. Arabella Youens talks to designers, plus Hetty Lintell brings the best in British bespoke luxury and Anya Hindmarch names a few of her favourite things.

The North Pennines

THE second largest of the AONBs, at 766 square miles, this landscape of gorges, waterfalls and moorland is awash with natural importance.

1 min

My favourite painting Cressida Cowell: St George and the Dragon by Paolo Uccello

John McEwen comments on St George

2 mins

An ode to ancient customs

The genre of country-house poetry in the 17th century is preoccupied by the ideas of hospitality and retirement. Clive Aslet considers the significance of these themes

8 mins

The magic touch

The carving of root vegetables into grotesque faces is only one of many attempts to ward off the advances of evil through the centuries, discovers Ian Morton

5 mins

From the jaws of hell

Be it Greek mythology’s Cerberus, Churchill’s ‘black dog’ of depression or the Hound of the Baskervilles, hell hounds have haunted us for generations, says Jeremy Hobson

3 mins

Sign language

The Pope’s Head, The Naked Boy, The Leg & Star: illustrated signs have been swinging tipsily outside Britain’s pubs for centuries, wooing customers, annoying Parliament and occasionally landing on pedestrians, says Felicity Day

5 mins

On England's pleasant pastures seen

With frost-edged air embued by decaying leaves, bonfires and gunpowder, for John Lewis-Stempel, our landscape of field, hedge and brook is the only place to be in October

4 mins

When In Doubt, Take A Bath

The market in Somerset’s largest city is heating up. Now is the time to dip a toe in

5 mins

Light the touch paper

Tiffany Daneff visits a garden that comes alive as others begin to fade, where inspired plantings heighten autumn’s natural brilliance

6 mins

The art of transgression

Laura Gascoigne finds more feminism than sex or yoga in the British Museum’s interpretation of Tantra

3 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.