Ranging from Kentchurch Court, a former fortified medieval manor house
that has been the seat of the Scudamore family for nearly 1,000 years,
to a delightful Strawberry Hill-style Gothic house in rural Cornwall to a
ducal palace (Badminton) to car-crazed Goodwood House, this beautifully
illustrated book showcases ten outstanding British country houses all
still in the hands of descendents of the original owners. James Peill
recounts the ups and downs of such deep-rooted clans as the Cracrofts,
landowners in Lincolnshire since the twelfth century, whose late
18th-century Hackthorn Hall is a perfect example of the kind of house
Jane Austen describes in her novels (indeed, she appears on their family
tree), as well as the relatively newly arrived Biddulphs, who
constructed Rodmarton, an Arts & Crafts masterpiece, in the first
decades of the last century. James Fennell has once again provided
superb photographs of a wealth of gardens, charming interiors, bygone
sporting trophies, fine art collections and fanciful family memorabilia,
making The English Country House a delicious treat for Anglophiles and
lovers of old houses.
