Ampthill Park House, Bedfordshire, part I The home of Sir Timothy and Lady Clifford

These days, there’s a lot of talk about the politics of personality, but standing in an extensive cave system near West Wycombe, we were transported to a time when politics was at the centre of a scen

Gracing the banks of the River Thames, this exquisite gem survived the Civil War thanks to a shrewd political operator, and is one of the finest Stuart houses in the country

The garden of Penns in the Rocks, near Tunbridge Wells, East Sussex The home of Hugh and Frances Gibson

Leaving London behind, Sophie and Richard Vermont transformed an 18th-century stable block on their farmstead into an idyllic rural retreat

These days, there’s a lot of talk about the politics of personality, but standing in the dim light of an extensive cave system near West Wycombe, we were transported back to a time when politics was a