Silverware, with its glistering surface and ornate designs, dresses the table like no other material and has an unmatched capacity for turning a meal into an occasion, as Matthew Dennison discovers

Painting a local cricket match, Sherree Valentine-Daines received an invitation that changed her career and led her to become artist-in-residence at Goodwood

They might be plain in looks, but Jacob’s Cream Crackers have had a colourful life. Tom Howells presents a bite-sized history of the Christmas cheeseboard staple

Christmas stamps, as featured on this year’s COUNTRY LIFE Advent calendar cover, are a cherished annual event– but how did they become one? Emma Hughes investigates

There is something pleasant in the thought that joviality will reign to-morrow in such grim homes as London workhouses,” a reporter for the West Londoner wrote on Christmas Eve 1870. “There will be an

Warm, spicy and special, gingerbread is a favourite festive treat. Tchaikovsky’s classic Christmas ballet The Nutcracker features an army of gingerbread men. And gingerbread houses, which originated i