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Blenheim Palace - http://www.blenheimpalace.com/
This baroque masterpiece - a World Heritage site - was built (1705-22) for the 1st Duke of Marlborough to designs by John Vanbrugh. The official site supplies an illustrated history and visitor information. |
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Beaulieu Palace House - http://www.beaulieu.co.uk/
Formerly the Great Gatehouse of Beaulieu Abbey, Palace House has been home to the Montagu family since 1538. The official site offers photographs and visitor information. |
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Waddesdon Manor - http://www.waddesdon.org.uk/
This astonishing Renaissance-style château was designed by French architect Destailleur in 1874 for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild. Includes history, images and visitor information. |
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Longleat House and Safari Park - http://www.longleat.co.uk/
The house is widely regarded as the best example of high Elizabethan architecture in Britain. Visitor information includes details of the library and archives assembled by the Thynne family since the 1540s. |
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Chatsworth House - http://www.chatsworth.org/
The magnificent home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, remodelled to designs by Talman 1686-1707. Includes a history and highlights of the house, along with visitor information. |
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Castle Howard - http://www.castlehoward.co.uk/
One of England's grandest Baroque mansions, designed for Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, by John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor. History, images, news and visitor information. |
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Coughton Court - http://www.coughtoncourt.co.uk/
The National Trust describes the largely Elizabethan family home of the Throckmortons, built around a Tudor gatehouse. Includes history, images and visitor information. |
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Hatfield House - http://www.hatfield-house.co.uk/
The official site for this magnificent Jacobean house built by Robert Cecil 1st Earl of Salisbury and still home to his descendants includes a brief history, visitor information and interactive aerial view. |
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Kelmscott Manor - http://www.kelmscottmanor.co.uk/
The Tudor manor house which was the home of William Morris, founder of the Arts and Crafts movement, and houses collections of his works. Photograph, brief history and visitor information. |
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Woburn Abbey - http://www.woburn.co.uk/abbey/
The official site offers an illustrated history and tour of the Georgian stately home built on a monastic site. Visitor information, activities programme. |
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Renishaw Hall - http://www.sitwell.co.uk/
The stately home of the Sitwell family in Derbyshire, built mainly in the Georgian period around a 17th-century core. Brief history and engraving, visitor information. |
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Boughton House - http://www.boughtonhouse.org.uk/
The palatial Northamptonshire home of the Dukes of Buccleuch and Queensberry. Includes history and tour of this Baroque house influenced by French architecture. Visitor information. |
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The Prebendal Manor, Nassington - http://www.prebendal-manor.demon.co.uk/
This 13th-century house is a rare survival. Photographs, scholarly history, archaeological finds, description of the recreated medieval garden, visitor information, events. |
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St Michael's Mount - http://www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk/
Crowning an island off the coast of Cornwall is the home of the St Aubyn family, incorporating parts of the priory that once stood there. Includes history and room tour. |
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Nassington Prebendal Manor House - http://www.prebendal-manor.co.uk
The earliest surviving dwelling in Northamptonshire, dating from the early 13th century, with a reconstructed medieval garden. A scholarly account of its history and archaeology, photographs and visitor information. |
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The DiCamillo Companion to British and Irish Country Houses - http://www.dicamillocompanion.com
A database that aims to list every British and Irish country house from circa 1500 to 1945, standing or demolished. Also an online shop. |
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Hammerwood Park - http://www.hammerwood.mistral.co.uk/
The Greek Revival house near East Grinstead was built in 1792 to the designs of Benjamin Latrobe. Scholarly history by Michael Trinder and a virtual guided tour. |
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Stately Homes - http://www.statelyhomes.com/
A guide to Britain's royal palaces, historic houses, gardens, castles and heritage sites covering England, Scotland and Wales. Images and visitor information. |
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Grimsthorpe Castle and Gardens - http://www.grimsthorpe.co.uk/
The official site for this stately home in Lincolnshire, remodelled in 1715 to the design of Sir John Vanbrugh. Includes a few images and very brief history, amid the visitor information. |
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Woodchester Mansion - http://www.woodchestermansion.org.uk
A 19th-century masterpiece of Cotswold stone deserted during construction. History, photographs, restoration, conservation training and visitor information. |
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Haddon Hall - http://www.haddonhall.co.uk/
The home of the Manners family in Derbyshire is one of the finest medieval and Tudor houses in England. Includes an online tour and family history. |
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Mellerstain - http://www.mellerstain.com/
This great house in the Scottish Borders was begun in 1725, overseen by architect William Adam and completed 70 years later by Robert Adam. History, photographs, news and attractions. |
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Hudson's Historic Houses and Gardens - http://www.hudsons.co.uk
The publishers of the guide to heritage properties in Great Britain and Ireland maintain this directory of links to web-sites of historic houses and gardens. |
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Lulworth Castle - http://www.lulworth.com/
Official web-site of this early 17th-century mock-castle in Dorset, gutted by fire in 1929 but partly restored and open to the public. |
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Duncombe Park - http://www.duncombepark.com/
Baroque mansion set in several hundred acres of parkland. Information for visitors and teachers. |
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Scotland's Castles and Historic Houses - http://www.aboutscotland.co.uk/castles/castles.html
Articles, with photographs and plans, on Traquair, Mary Queen of Scots House, Linlithgow Palace, Hermitage Castle, Castle Urquhart, Crichton Castle, Strome Castle, Threave Castle and Caerlaverock Castle, from Scotland HolidayNet. |
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Anglesey Abbey - http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-angleseyabbeyandgardenandlodemill.htm
The National Trust describes this Augustinian priory in Cambridgeshire converted into a country house at the start of the 17th century. Includes history, photographs and visitor information. |
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Burton Constable Hall - http://www.burtonconstable.com/
This Elizabethan house has been the home of the Constable family since it was first built. Photographs of superb later interiors, visitor information, teachers' resource packs. |
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Highcliffe Castle - http://www.highcliffecastle.co.uk/
The official web site of this early Victorian romantic fantasy castle in Dorset, incorporating medieval stone-carving and stained glass from France, includes history and photographs. |
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Owlpen Manor - http://www.owlpen.com
This fine Tudor manor house in the Cotswolds is open to the public. Includes a history of the manor and description of its architecture, and visitor information. |
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Layer Marney Tower - http://www.layermarneytower.co.uk
This Italianate masterpiece built c.1515 is the tallest Tudor gatehouse in England and was originally intended to rival Hampton Court. Includes a history and photographs. |
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Eastbury Manor House - http://www.barking-dagenham.gov.uk/4-eastbury/eastbury-menu.html
This Elizabethan mansion in Barking was built by merchant Clement Sysley as a country house, but it is now in Greater London. History and description of this National Trust property. |
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English Country Houses - http://www.britannia.com/history/c-house.html
Britannia's collection of illustrated articles: regional studies and the histories of specific houses. |
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British Castles, Stately Homes and Houses - http://koti.welho.com/rhurmal1/linnat2004/castles.html
An interactive map leads to short descriptions by Risto Hurmalainen of historic buildings he has visited, a gallery of expandable thumbnail photographs and links to official sites. Hosted by Castles of the World. |
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Acton Court - http://www.actoncourt.com/
A Tudor courtier house built by Nicholas Poyntz at Iron Acton, near Bristol. Illustrated history and description of the house and grounds today, plus visitor information including calendar of events and location map. |
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Harlaxton Manor - http://www.ueharlax.ac.uk/harlaxton/
The most attractive and interesting work of the Victorian architect Anthony Salvin. Designed in the Elizabethan and Jacobean style. This site from the current owners, Harlaxton College, gives a good history of the building. |
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Chartwell House - http://www.bigginhill.co.uk/chartwell.htm
Sir Winston Churchill's family house, managed by the National Trust. Photograph and description of the collection of Churchill memorabilia. |
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Sutton Park - http://www.statelyhome.co.uk/
The official site of an early Georgian house in Yorkshire gives a history, photographic tour and visitor information. |
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Dunrobin Castle - http://www.highlandescape.com/dunrobin/
Photographs, description and visitor information from Highland Escape. This Scottish stately home is largely a Victorian confection by Charles Barry, with interiors redesigned by Sir Robert Lorimer after 1915. |
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Belchamp Hall - http://www.belchamphall.com/
The official site of this Queen Anne period family home in Suffolk has photographs, some history, and description of facilities offered. |
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Titsey Place, Oxted, Surrey - http://www.titsey.org/
The official site gives a history, guided tour and visitor information for this Georgian mansion set in extensive gardens. |
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Tredegar House - http://members.fortunecity.com/tredegarhouse
The finest surviving Restoration house in Wales, home of the Morgan family for over 500 years. The official site gives an illustrated history, interior views and family portraits. Pop-up banners. |
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Turncroft Hall - http://www.turncrofthall.co.uk
A history of this small country house in Lancashire, two centuries old and refronted in the simplified classicism of the early Victorian period. |
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Patshull Hall - http://www.patshullhall.co.uk/
This mid-18th century Baroque house is set amid acres of Capability Brown landscaped gardens. Includes an illustrated history and description. |
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Kingston Bagpuize House - http://www.kingstonbagpuizehouse.btinternet.co.uk
A manor house, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, built about 1660 and extensively remodelled in the early 1700s. Brief illustrated history and visitor information. |
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Burton Court - http://www.burtoncourt.com
This 14th-century manor house in Herefordshire was re-fronted by 20th-century architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis. Includes history and information on the holiday flat, exhibition and soft fruit farm. |
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Columbine Hall - http://www.columbinehall.co.uk
A moated manor house in Suffolk. Built around 1390 it has been through several phases of additions and alterations. History, images, and visitor/lodging information. |
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Nailsea Court - http://www.nailseacourt.com
Nailsea Court Residents Association presents a history of this Jacobean manor house (now converted into five homes). Includes exterior and interior images. |
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Coleton Fishacre - http://www.britannia.com/history/chouses/fishacre.html
Article by Jane Johnson in Britannia on this Art Deco mansion in South Devon built in 1926 to the designs of Oswald Milne (1881-1967), assistant to Lutyens. Photographs, history and visitor information. |
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Lost Heritage - http://www.lostheritage.org.uk
Matthew Beckett provides a list of the many country houses which have been demolished in England since 1800, with images and history of a featured selection. |