Country Life

Published by Time Inc. (UK) Ltd 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.

‘For everyone who knocks, the door will be opened’ • A safe haven, a refuge for rest and relaxation, the place we feel we belong–the concept of ‘home’ differs for each of us. At Christmas, home is so much more than a physical location: it is all around, says the Revd Colin Heber-Percy

Country Life

Town & Country

The trees that time forgot

Good week for

Wrangling over Scottish wildlife

Gallantry and garters

Snowy and co facing bleak future

Bubbling up

Country Mouse • Nativity thrills and spills

Town Mouse • Christmas jingles

Town & Country Notebook

100 years ago in COUNTRY LIFE • December 15, 1923

Cabinet of curiosities

Time to buy

In the spotlight • Mistletoe (Viscum album)

Unmissable events

Did you know?

Wines of the week

Letter of the week

Très drôle

Last piece of the puzzle

Sustainable development

The final stir

A toast to morning resilience

It begins with the crib

Athena • Cultural Crusader

The way we were

My favourite painting The Bishop of Winchester • The Incredulity of Saint Thomas

Away in a manger • From Rembrandt’s shepherds, startled by an angel’s appearance, to Gauguin’s mother, exhausted after giving birth to her green-haloed child, the Nativity has inspired some of our greatest artists, finds Michael Prodger

Beat that: when the Nativity became a way to show off

On the night watch • As the diurnal delights of the animal kingdom slip into a deep slumber, John Lewis-Stempel explores the velvety black shadows where the wild things are

Prodigy or eccentric? • The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Bristol

When Christmas was cancelled • No feasting. No drinking. No celebrations. Ian Morton explores what the festive period was like when Oliver Cromwell’s Christmas clampdown gripped the nation

Made with love • We might not give them a second thought when we kneel down to pray in church, but the humble hassock offers comfort, as well as embroidered and elaborate beauty, says the Revd Colin Heber-Percy

Faith, hope and charity: kneelers through history

’Tis the season to be busy • Christmas represents the climax of the working year for some rural businesses. Ben Lerwill talks to six stalwarts whose lives are hectic at this time and finds out how they cope with the deadlines–as well as how they relax

So, this is Christmas • Today’s world would be a strange and frightening place for our Victorian forebears, yet, on Christmas Day, they would still feel right at home, says John Mueller

O Tannenbaum: Christmas with a German accent

Past, present and future: a Christmas timeline

It came upon a midnight clear • It takes a Christmas party to break the ice for the newcomers at the big house

The Editor’s Christmas quiz • Are you a Christmas elf or an Ebenezer Scrooge? Test your festive knowledge with COUNTRY LIFE’s biggest quiz of the year

Luxury Notebook

A few of my favourite things • Born and raised in Edinburgh, the track cyclist has six gold and one silver Olympic...