Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Cover image for Country Life

Country Life

May 20 2026
Magazine

Published by TI Media Limited 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.

Miss Lucy Fenn • Lucy is currently launching her fashion label, Fenn Couture. She is the daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Johnny and Blou Fenn of Pokhara, Nepal, and will marry Alexander Pitman at St Catherine’s Chapel, Westonbirt School, Gloucestershire, later this month.

Full English

Country Life

Town & Country

Town & Country Notebook

Stuff & nonsense

Letters to the Editor

Taxing times

Athena • Cultural Crusader

My favourite painting Hannah Durkin

Country-house treasures

A question of colour • A village church restoration throws an unexpected light on the decoration of the Great Exhibition’s Crystal Palace and the colour theories behind it, finds Kathryn Ferry

The legacy • Sir Humphry Davy and the Davy lamp

The best of the West • Long considered the Cotswolds’ sleepier cousin, Somerset’s stock has been rising inexorably in recent years. Madeleine Silver talks to residents old and new about the county’s special brand of magic

The saint’s way • The county of Cornwall at England’s rugged south-western tip is steeped in Celtic Christian tradition and alive with myriad saints, discovers Ian Morton

Get to the point! • Why do the English find it so excruciatingly difficult to say what they mean? Deborah Nicholls-Lee investigates our allegiance to politeness and understatement

They seek him here, they seek him there… • How did an unassuming little bloom become synonymous with aristocratic derring-do? Deborah Nicholls-Lee delves into the colourful past of the scarlet pimpernel

Foreign policy • Once considered a wonderfully exotic addition to the residential gardens of European aristocrats and royalty, the Canada goose is now the most abundant non-native waterbird in Britain

Unearthly powers • Whether humble, elaborate or very rare, amulets tend to have huge personal significance, ranging from sentimental to spiritual

Sunny side up • The happiest of hues can uplift an outfit and your mood, believes Amie Elizabeth White

‘All I wanna do is have some fun’ • Amid a furling Westerly wind, our correspondent ventures lochwards in the pursuit of brown trout with renowned gillie and musician Colin Macleod

The wonders of WOW!house • Since its inception in 2022, WOW!house has dazzled its visitors with rooms created by some of the world’s most inspiring figures, including Emma Burns, Kit Kemp, Alidad, Charlotte Freemantle and Will Fisher. This year’s experts will add even greater depth and breadth to the deep well of design talent that these events celebrate, finds Amelia Thorpe

Fit for a queen • Anne of Cleves was granted the manor at Edgcote in her divorce from Henry VIII and, although she had no desire to live there, over the centuries many others have delighted in its stately interiors, with new owners poised to add to its story

Straw and order • Step inside some of the West Country’s most charming thatched homes, where chocolate-box exteriors hide chic interiors made for rural living at its cosiest

All in its place • Taking this garden back to its 18th-century boundary was key to restoring the balance of house, garden and park, says Charles Quest-Ritson

Horticultural...

Formats

  • OverDrive Magazine

Languages

  • English