''Country Life'' is a British weekly perfect-bound glossy

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

that is published by

Future plc Future plc is an international multimedia company established in the United Kingdom in 1985. The company has over 220 brands that span magazines, newsletters, websites, and events in fields such as video games, technology, films, music, photogr ...

. It was based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

at 110 Southwark Street until March 2016, when it became based in

Farnborough Farnborough may refer to: Australia * Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone United Kingdom * Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England ** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

History

''Country Life'' was launched in 1897, incorporating ''Racing Illustrated''. At this time it was owned by Edward Hudson, the owner of Lindisfarne Castle and various Lutyens-designed houses including The Deanery in

Sonning Sonning is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, on the River Thames, east of Reading. The village was described by Jerome K. Jerome in his book ''Three Men in a Boat'' as "the most fairy-like little nook on the whole river". Geo ...

; in partnership with George Newnes Ltd (in 1905 Hudson bought out Newnes). At that time

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

and

racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific go ...

served as its main content, as well as the property coverage, initially of manorial estates, which is still such a large part of the magazine.

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the ...

, the late Queen Mother, used to appear frequently on its front cover. Now the magazine covers a range of subjects in depth, from gardens and gardening to country house architecture, fine art and books, and property to rural issues, luxury products and interiors. The frontispiece of each issue usually features a portrait photograph of a young woman of society, or, on occasion, a man of society. For example; Volume 9, 1 June 1901 had Lady Fermor-Hesketh (the wife of 7th Baronet of Rufford). In 2016, in its 119th year, Country Life was the subject of a three-part documentary series made by Spun Gold and which aired on BBC Two on consecutive Friday nights in March. The magazine has also celebrated its best-ever selling issue – the double issue from Christmas 2015 – and a 6th ABC increase in a row, which is an achievement no other weekly magazine publishing original content can claim. In 1997, the centenary of the magazine was celebrated by a special issue, the publishing of a book by Sir Roy Strong, the airing of a BBC2 TV programme on a year in the life of the magazine, and staging a Gold Medal-winning garden at the

Chelsea Flower Show The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the ''Great Spring Show'',Phil Clayton, ''The Great Temple Show'' in ''The Garden'' 2008, p.452, The Royal Horticultural Society is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural ...

. In 1999, the magazine launched a new website. In 2007, the magazine celebrated its 110th anniversary with a special souvenir issue on 4 January. Starting on Wednesday 7 May 2008 the magazine is issued each Wednesday, having been on sale each Thursday for the past 111 years, with the earlier day being achieved using electronic publishing technology.

Topics

The first several dozen pages of each issue are devoted to colour advertisements for upmarket residential property The magazine covers the pleasures and joys of

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are de ...

life. It is primarily concerned with rural communities and their environments as well as the concerns of country dwellers and landowners and has a diverse readership which, although mainly UK based is also international. Much of its success has historically been built on its coverage of

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peop ...

architecture and gardening at a time when the architectural press largely ignored this building type. An extensive photographic archive has resulted, now of great importance to architectural historians. The other rural pursuits and interests covered include

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles ...

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

news and

gardening Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, frui ...

and there are regular news and opinion pieces as well as a firm engagement with rural politics. There are reviews of

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ...

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is in ...

and

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...

, art and

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

(also many offers) and

antique An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

s and

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...

s. Illustrative material includes the ''Tottering-by-Gently''

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of imag ...

by Annie Tempest. The property section claims to have more prime agents than anywhere else. In addition. monthly luxury and interiors sections offer readers some informed ideas about the latest in jewellery, style and travel, and interiors. Recent feature articles have included Charles, Prince of Wales guest-editing an issue of ''Country Life'' in 2013, a historic revelation which revealed the true face of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

for the first time in 2015, and in 2016 an exclusive on where the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past th ...

really began in 1666. There was a special commemorative issue in June 2016 on the occasion of the Queen's 90th birthday, and a Best of Britain celebrating the very best of what the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

has to offer, from craftsmen to landscapes. Missing weeks. The magazine is reported by Tony Hutchinson as not being published between 19 June and 13 Aug 1959. Further work is needed on this.

BBC Documentary

In March 2016, ''Country Life'' was featured in a three-part documentary series produced by Spun Gold which aired on BBC2 called ''Land of Hope and Glory, British Country Life''. The films sought to show some elements of modern rural life which although feature often in ''Country Life'' magazine, are rarely seen in the mass media. Topics covered included the beauty of the countryside and the centuries and traditions of the people who live there as well as some of the challenges faced by those who live and work exclusively on the land, from property owners to farmers and those employed in country pursuits.

Editors

James Edmund Vincent James Edmund Vincent (17 November 1857 – 18 July 1909) was a Welsh barrister, known as a journalist and author. Life Born on 17 November 1857 at St. Anne's, Bethesda, he was eldest son of the cleric James Crawley Vincent, son of James Vincen ...

1897–1900 * Peter Anderson Graham 1900–1925 * W E Barber 1925–1933 * Christopher Hussey 1933–1940 (previously Architectural Editor) * F Whitaker 1940–1958 * John Adams 1958–1973 * Michael Wright 1973–1984 * Marcus Binney 1984–1986 (previously Architectural Editor) * Jenny Green 1986–1992 * Clive Aslet 1993–2006 (previously Deputy Editor, now Editor-at-Large) * Mark Hedges 2006–present Deputy editors: * Clive Aslet 1989–1993 (previously architectural editor) * Michael Hall 1998–2004 (previously architectural editor, current editor of ''

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

'') *

Jessica Fellowes Jessica Fellowes (born 1974) is an English author and freelance journalist. She is the niece of Julian Fellowes (Baron Fellowes of West Stafford). Career Fellowes was assistant editor of ''Marketing Business'' from October 2000 to July 2001; ...

2004–2008 * Rupert Uloth 2008–2016 * Kate Green 2016–present Architectural editors ates as architectural writer * provisionally Edward Hudson and James Edmund Vincent 1897–1900 / Peter Graham 1900–1907 *

Henry Avray Tipping Henry Avray Tipping (22 August 1855 – 16 November 1933) was a French-born British writer on country houses and gardens, a garden designer, and Architectural Editor of '' Country Life'' magazine for 17 years. Early life Tipping was born in the ...

1907–1910, 1916–1930 930–1933* Sir

Lawrence Weaver Sir Lawrence Walter William Weaver (1876–1930) was an English architectural writer and civil servant. Early years Lawrence Weaver was the son of Walter and Frances Weaver of Clifton, Bristol. He was educated at Clifton College and was trained ...

1910–1916 * Christopher Hussey 1930–1933, 1940–1964 921–1930* Arthur Oswald 1933–1940 928–1933, 1940–1969*

Mark Girouard Mark Girouard (7 October 1931 – 16 August 2022) was a British architectural historian. He was an authority on the country house, and Elizabethan and Victorian architecture. Life and career Girouard was born on 7 October 1931. He was educ ...

1964–1967 .1958–1964*

John Cornforth Sir John Warcup Cornforth Jr., (7 September 1917 – 8 December 2013) was an AustralianBritish chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1975 for his work on the stereochemistry of enzyme-catalysed reactions, becoming the only Nobel ...

1967–1977 .1960–1967, 1977–c.1990* Marcus Binney 1977–1984 968–1977* Clive Aslet 1984–1989 977–1984* Giles Worsley 1989–1994 985–1988* Michael Hall 1994–1998 989–1994*

Jeremy Musson Jeremy Musson (born London, 1965) is an English author, editor and presenter, specialising in British country houses and architecture. Career Musson was an architectural writer on '' Country Life'' magazine from 1995 to 1998, and its Architectur ...

1998–2007 995–1998* Dr John Goodall 2007–present Gardens editors: * E.T. Cook

arly 20th century The Arly () is a 32.1 km long river in the departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie, France. It is a tributary of the Isère, which it joins at Albertville. Towns crossed by the river * Megève * Praz-sur-Arly * Flumet * Saint-Nicolas-la- ...

* Tony Venison * Tim Richardson 1995–1999 * Kathryn Bradley-Hole 2000–2018 * Tiffany Daneff 2018— (earlier versions cited Fred Whitsey as a gardens editor, but he was a distinguished contributor only, being in fact the Editor of sister publication Popular Gardening)

Notable contributors

Christopher Lloyd Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and on television since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in the ''Back to the Future'' tril ...

(gardening) *

Bernard Darwin Bernard Richard Meirion Darwin CBE JP (7 September 1876 − 18 October 1961) a grandson of the British naturalist Charles Darwin, was a golf writer and high-standard amateur golfer. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Biography B ...

(grandson of

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

) (golf 1907–1961) * Alethea Hayter (fashion editor 1933–38) * Claude Scudamore Jarvis ("A Countryman's Notes", 1939–53) *

Gertrude Jekyll Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, and wrot ...

(gardening) * Lucinda Lambton (architecture) * John Martin Robinson (architecture) * Alistair John Rowan (architecture, before 1967) *

Tim Yeo Timothy Stephen Kenneth Yeo (born 20 March 1945) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of South Suffolk between the 1983 United Kingdom general election and that ...

(politics) * Christina Broom (photographer) *

Alice Hughes Alice Mary Hughes (1857–1939) was a leading London portrait photographer specializing in images of fashionable women and children. Biography Hughes was the eldest daughter of the portrait painter Edward Hughes (1832-1908). After studying pho ...

(photographer, cover portraits, 1898-1909) * Emile Frechon (photographer, rural life, 1902-1915) Staff architectural photographers: *

Charles Latham Sir Charles George Latham (26 January 1882 – 26 August 1968), often shortened to simply C. G. Latham, was an Australian politician, former leader of the opposition in Western Australia and the 10th President of the Western Australian Legisla ...

c1897–c1909 * Frederick Evans (1853–1945) pre1906-? * Alfred E. Henson (1885–1972) 1917–57 * Alex Starkey 1953–87 (last staff photographer''Country Life's last staff photographer'', by Alex Starkey, Country Life, 6 February 2007
/ref>)

Notes

References

* Country Life, 1897–1997: The English Arcadia, by Sir Roy Strong, Boxtree Ltd, 1996, , (the history of the magazine). * Fifty Years of Country Life, by

, Country Life, 1947 (94 pages, on the first 50 year's history of the magazine). * An Everyday Story of Country Life, BBC2, 1997, being a TV documentary filmed over a one-year period in 1996 at the magazine, to celebrate its centenary.

External links

''Country Life''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Country Life (magazine) 1897 establishments in the United Kingdom Lifestyle magazines published in the United Kingdom Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines published in London Magazines established in 1897 Rural culture in Europe Rural society in the United Kingdom