Rainham Hall is a charming Grade II* listed Queen Anne house in a London suburb. Now a visitor attraction run by the National Trust, Rainham Hall was built in 1729 as a successful sea merchant's home. It is regarded as one of the finest and best-preserved examples in England of a medium-sized early Georgian merchant’s house. Many National Trust properties have benefitted from … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: Rainham Hall National Trust
Great British Houses
Let’s Go For a Spring Walk Around Stourhead House and Gardens
I’ve now lost count of how many months and years it has been since I was able to walk through my favorite garden at Stourhead in Wiltshire. Spring is the best time to visit Stourhead; it’s when you can see the place in full glory as an English Arcadian ideal of the perfect garden landscape. Everything is in bloom. The place is buzzing with visitors. The house is usually opening … [Read more...] about Let’s Go For a Spring Walk Around Stourhead House and Gardens
BESS AND HER HALL: The Story Bess of Hardwick and Her Amazing House
Hardwick Hall is unique among National Trust properties. Most are monuments to the men of British history (the good ones and the bad ones). Hardwick Hall is a monument to a woman and a very formidable woman at that. Elizabeth Shrewsbury, colloquially known as Bess of Hardwick, wielded power in an age when women did not have that much. Sure, England was ruled by a woman, but … [Read more...] about BESS AND HER HALL: The Story Bess of Hardwick and Her Amazing House
Finding Downton: Our Journey to Highclere Castle
Editor's Note: This long article originally appeared in Issue #5 of the Anglotopia Print Magazine in Spring 2017. You can support great long-form writing about British History, Culture and Travel by subscribing to the Anglotopia Print Magazine, a quarterly love letter to Britain. Subscribing makes articles like this possible and ensures the future of Anglotopia. You can … [Read more...] about Finding Downton: Our Journey to Highclere Castle
Great British Houses: The Legendary St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the Spring 2016 issue of the Anglotopia Magazine (now sold out). Be sure to reserve the next copy of the Anglotopia magazine so you don't miss out! St Michael’s Mount, a stunning former medieval monastery and sprawling castle that is set atop an offshore island and is only accessible on foot during low tide, seems very much … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: The Legendary St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall
Great British Houses: Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the first issue of the Anglotopia magazine in February. Subscribe today to receive the next issue of our magazine and read about British History, Culture and Travel all in one place. Issue 2 is now available - order before it sells out! One of the great Whig political palaces of the 18th century, Wentworth Woodhouse is … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire
Great British Houses: Wokefield Park
Editor's Note: This is likely the final entry in our Great British Houses series. We've now published almost fifty articles in the series and we've basically run out of 'great' (as in famous) houses to write about. While I'm sure there are many more beautiful stately homes in the UK to write about, we've run out of the 'popular' ones - ones that are open to the public or … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: Wokefield Park
Great British Houses: Brympton d’Evercy – A Stunning Stately Home in Somerset
One of Somerset’s most historic houses, Brympton d’Evercy, was once described as ‘the most beautiful house in England’. Built slowly over hundreds of years and then refurbished and renovated for every century after, Brympton d’Evercy has evolved slowly and constantly, resulting in a sprawling Grade I listed mansion and estate featuring numerous architectural styles. Key Facts … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: Brympton d’Evercy – A Stunning Stately Home in Somerset
Great British Houses: Wollaton Hall – An Elizabethan Palace That May Look Familiar from the Batman Films
At the time Wollaton Hall was built, it was an architectural sensation. A decadent Elizabethan palace that showed stark Tudor England how to embrace the excesses of the Renaissance, Wollaton boasts the most dramatic facade of any English house built in the 16th century. Owned by the Willoughby family for 345 years, Wollaton Hall is now a Natural History Museum and is known for … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: Wollaton Hall – An Elizabethan Palace That May Look Familiar from the Batman Films
Great British Houses: Abbotsford – The Ancestral Home of Sir Walter Scott
The ancestral home of Scotland’s most famous literary son, Sir Walter Scott, Abbotsford is a popular tourist attraction in the Scottish borders. Abbotsford grew from humble beginnings into a grand, romantic mansion, an icon of 19th century Scottish Baronial architecture. Once Sir Walter Scott’s most cherished possession, his ‘conundrum castle’, Abbotsford is now a museum and … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: Abbotsford – The Ancestral Home of Sir Walter Scott
Great British Houses: Basildon Park – A Georgian Masterpiece Saved from Wreck and Ruin
Used by the British army during both world wars, left derelict at numerous times in history and almost sold piece-by-piece to America, Basildon Park is a true survivor. Reborn in the 1950s thanks to a loving and painstaking restoration by Lord and Lady Iliffe, Basildon Park is an authentic Georgian mansion that has managed, against all odds, to forge a place for itself in the … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: Basildon Park – A Georgian Masterpiece Saved from Wreck and Ruin
Great British Houses: Burghley House – An Elizabethan Marvel
Burghley House is truly spectacular. An Elizabethan palace to which only actual royal residences can compare, Burghley House is the most magnificent house built during Queen Elizabeth’s reign. Only the best for Queen Elizabeth’s most faithful and long-serving advisor, Lord Burghley, who rose from the status of lawyer to become Queen Elizabeth I’s chief advisor for most of her … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: Burghley House – An Elizabethan Marvel
Great British Houses: Anglesey Abbey – A Stunning Country Home in Cambridgeshire
The origins of Anglesey Abbey date back to the 12th century, but Anglesey only became a house of real note in the 1920s when it was purchased by wealthy bachelor Huttleston Broughton. Broughton, later Lord Fairhaven, transformed this tired country house into a luxurious mansion in which to entertain the best of English society. Filling the mansion with his extensive art and … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: Anglesey Abbey – A Stunning Country Home in Cambridgeshire
Great British Houses: Kimbolton Castle – A Stunning Castle Turned Mansion in Cambridgeshire
A Norman castle, a Tudor manor house, a Georgian mansion, and finally, a public school. Kimbolton Castle has survived many centuries of change. The final resting place of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s divorced and banished Spanish Queen, Kimbolton Castle sits amidst wooded grounds close to the small town of Kimbolton. Kimbolton Castle is not generally open to the public, … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: Kimbolton Castle – A Stunning Castle Turned Mansion in Cambridgeshire
Great British Houses: Wilton House – A Stunning Example of Palladian Architecture in Wiltshire
Wilton House is an impressive example of severe Palladian style and is home to Inigo Jones’ famous Single and Double Cube Rooms, believed by some to be the finest 17th century staterooms in England. Privately owned since King Henry VIII seized it from its resident nuns and handed it over to his brother-in-law, Wilton House contains a stunning collection of paintings and … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: Wilton House – A Stunning Example of Palladian Architecture in Wiltshire
Great British Houses: A Brief History of the Old and New Wardour Castle in Wiltshire
In the fourteenth century, Baron Lovell returned triumphant from battles overseas and built Wardour Castle, a grand fortress worthy of a powerful English Lord. Originally built as a show of strength and victory over enemies overseas, Wardour Castle was eventually ruined by enemies on home soil after being besieged in both the Wars of the Roses and the English Civil War. In the … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: A Brief History of the Old and New Wardour Castle in Wiltshire
Great British Houses: Kedleston Hall – The Temple of the Arts in Derbyshire
The partnership of the wealthy and esteemed 5th Baronet Sir Nathanial Curzon and innovative architect, Robert Adam, was always going to result in something spectacular. In 1758, on the occasion of his inheritance, Curzon set out to build an elegant house in the height of fashion, sparing no expense. Robert Adam made his dreams come true, creating in Kedleston Hall a … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: Kedleston Hall – The Temple of the Arts in Derbyshire
Great British Houses: Forde Abbey – A Former Monastery Turned Stately Home in Dorset
Editor's Note: After a short hiatus while we had new articles written, Great British Houses is back with a new series of 12 articles about some more of Britain's greatest houses. Enjoy! Forde Abbey has provided a home to Cistercian Monks, one of Oliver Cromwell’s top Parliamentarian aides, a penny-pinching Victorian merchant, and finally an enterprising 21st century family … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: Forde Abbey – A Former Monastery Turned Stately Home in Dorset
Great British Houses: The Greenway Estate – The Home of Agatha Christie
Around the 1920s during the golden age of detective fiction the English Country House became a crime scene. In 1938, the Queen of Crime herself Agatha Christie bought a crime scene of her very own with the purchase of the Greenway Estate in which she lived and worked for the remainder of her life. This huge Georgian house is now owned by the National Trust and is a bricks and … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: The Greenway Estate – The Home of Agatha Christie
Great British Castles: Sudeley Castle – A Classic House That Played a Role Throughout British History
Like every good medieval palace, Sudeley Castle has played host to many of the most notorious royals, influential politicians and aristocratic families of English History. Sudeley Castle is linked to not one but two of Henry VIII’s wives and has been owned by the crown various times. Saved by new money, Sudeley Castle became the antiquarian palace it is today at the hands of a … [Read more...] about Great British Castles: Sudeley Castle – A Classic House That Played a Role Throughout British History
Great British Houses: Dunham Massey – A Georgian Masterpiece Near Manchester
As with many of the great houses of England, is it not the bricks and mortar of Dunham Massey that make it exceptional but its complex and many-layered family history. A largely Georgian house built by the 2nd Earl of Warrington, Dunham Massey has survived as a place of great wealth and bankruptcy for the last 300 years remaining, against the odds, in the possession of the same … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: Dunham Massey – A Georgian Masterpiece Near Manchester
Great British Houses: Polesden Lacey – Where the Queen Mother Spent Her Honeymoon
Polesden Lacey’s fame comes not so much from the triumph of its architecture or the lure of its sumptuous Edwardian interiors but from its most notorious owner, Mrs Greville, whose entertaining of the stars of English society was legendary. The existing Regency house located in Surrey, England was completely rebuilt by Mrs Greville in 1906 with the main objective of creating a … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: Polesden Lacey – Where the Queen Mother Spent Her Honeymoon
Great British Houses: Luton Hoo – The Great House Turned Hotel
Luton Hoo mansion house has been re-built and re-modelled by some of the finest architects to work in England. The house has seen visits from royalty such as Queen Mary, Edward VII and Queen Elizabeth II and been owned by a Prime Minister and Russian aristocrat. Today you can go to Luton Hoo and spend the night, play a few holes of golf or have a manicure as the 17th century … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: Luton Hoo – The Great House Turned Hotel
Great British Houses: Petworth House – A Stunning House in Sussex Made Famous by Turner and Home to a World Class Art Collection
Petworth House is one of the most striking country houses in England. The long, imposing stone facade of the house fronts a huge number of rooms and the outbuildings, parks and mighty stone wall erected around the Petworth estate challenges the nearby town with its scale. Imagine living in this aristocratic palace with ordinary townsfolk going about their business on the other … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: Petworth House – A Stunning House in Sussex Made Famous by Turner and Home to a World Class Art Collection
Great British Houses: Warwick Castle – A Stunning Medival Stone Castle Preserved in Warwickshire
The site of Warwick Castle has a history that stretches way back to the year 914 when an Anglo-Saxon Burh was established by Ethelfleda, daughter of Alfred the Great. Throughout the next 1200 years, this plot of land and the buildings erected upon it have played an integral part in many major happenings of English History. Some castles in the UK are still the … [Read more...] about Great British Houses: Warwick Castle – A Stunning Medival Stone Castle Preserved in Warwickshire
Anglotopia was founded by Jonathan and Jackie Thomas in 2007 in a closet in Chicago. Anglotopia is for people who love Britain - whether it's British TV, Culture, History or Travel - we cover it all. Join us as we explore Britain and everything it has to offer!
