Comfortable seclusion is on offer at three historic houses, each beautifully presented and set in glorious landscapes worthy of God’s own county

Three historic country houses in Yorkshire, a stone’s throw from the most northerly of Britain’s 16 white chalk horses, offer comfortable contemporary living and fascinating backstories

The Houses of Guinness Adrian Tinniswood (Batsford, £30) ...

An old man lives at the bottom of my garden. His name is Robert Barkus, or Bakehouse, or Bagust. Nobody is quite sure. But I often sense him around when I’m gardening, and I’ve found out a fair bit ab

Did you know that Thomas Müntzer, leader of the German Peasants’ War in 1525, used a rainbow flag to rally his followers? It’s an aptly exuberant image for the radical charisma of Müntzer, and for the

Christine Faughlin sings the praises of a converted chapel on the 30,000-acre Bolton Abbey estate in the Yorkshire Dales