Building on history

LOCATION – the one thing that affects most the value of any property. That’s nothing new, though. Even in the Dark Ages, those who had need to build strongholds for protection from their enemies place

Corfe Castle has towered over a Dorset peninsula for 900 years; its stone walls seeing kings crowned, civil wars fought and saints made

Cultural Crusader

Belmont House, Kent The property of The Harris (Belmont) Trust

West Wycombe Park, Buckinghamshire, part I The seat of Sir Edward Dashwood, Bt, and a property of the National Trust

Obelisks, pyramids and motifs from ancient Egypt didn’t only influence grand country houses or powerful Biblical paintings, but also shaped tea-ware, cinemas and even factory floors, as Michael Hall reveals