Birth of a nation

this story: Edgar Ætheling, Edward’s great-nephew. We know, of course, which one of these contenders held the crown in his possession at the end of the year. What is less certain is who was the most d

A new exhibition examines the significance and impact of England’s northerly Viking invasion

LECHFELD, BAVARIA 10-12 AUGUST 955

This year marks the 625th anniversary of The Canterbury Tales author – and “father of English literature” – Geoffrey Chaucer’s death. He penned this classic, about a merry band of medieval pilgrims te

When COUNTRY LIFE’s Henry Avray Tipping spotted a 17th-century four poster languishing in a Herefordshire attic in 1911, he set off a chain of events that saw the bed leave its ancestral home and land at The Met in New York

“ I met Charles Dickens today, except he had clearly been so busy working on The Mystery of Edwin Drood that he had fallen asleep, so I didn’t get to speak to him!” I laughingly proclaimed to Ro when