A look inside Castle Combe, often called the most beautiful village in England, complete with The Manor House, a five star country house hotel.

All this week, in a series of superb pullouts for you to collect, the Mail is revealing 100 Glories of Secret Britain: the wonderful sights across the country too few of us know about or visit.

Aerial view of Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire UK

Grade 1 Elizabethan mansion in Norfolk. Aerial image of Rainthorpe Hall

Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire. A revisitation with the D800 of www.flickr.com/photos/icypics/6921728102/in/set-721576291... taken with the Fuji X100

Look inside the most beautiful stately homes in Britain. Including Chatsworth House, Castle Howard and Hardwick Hall.

Hardwick Hall, cut away Elizabethan Architecture The large majority of houses built in the Elizabethan period were still timber framed, or built from local stone, as in the earlier Tudor period. I won’t dwell on timber framed building for long as I gave plenty of examples in the previous post, but I do want to show you a few late Tudor timber framed buildings. This is a rare survivor in London, a timber framed row of buildings in Holborn. Many buildings such as this were lost in the Great Fire of 1666. This is The Merchant’s House in Plymouth. It is probably early 17th century, but very much in the same style as other late Tudor buildings. I think the most noticeable thing with these two buildings is the size of the windows. Glass was still very expensive in Elizabethan England, but personal wealth had grown for many people, and they were keen to show it! It is the manor houses and Great Houses that are most notable in the Elizabethan period. As the wealth of farmers and land owners increased, they abandoned their cold, draughty timber framed houses and settled into grander houses of brick or stone; these houses also grew bigger, and had more private rooms. The old Great Halls were becoming little more than a place of entry; servants were being kept separate from the family by this stage. Barrington Court is a fine example of an Elizabethan manor house. It was started in 1514, but altered later. It has a noticeable symmetry, something of the Renaissance that had begun to creep into buildings in England. Barrington Court is also built to an E shape. This is often believed to be a symbol of loyalty to Queen Elizabeth, but is probably more a happy coincidence; many manor houses were built to this E shaped arrangement, but there were also H shaped houses, so there may well be some element of truth in the patriotic theory. Melford Hall in Suffolk has many Tudor Characteristics, and Queen Elizabeth was entertained there in 1578. The canny Queen didn’t build herself any great new palaces, as her Father Henry had, she preferred to pay visits to her wealthy courtiers, who spent huge sums of money providing accommodation suitable for a queen and her entourage which could run into hundreds! (Makes the likes of J-Lo’s entourage seem like small fry!) she might stay for months too, it was a very expensive honour to accommodate the queen! Red brick was starting to become less popular in the Great Houses of the Elizabethan England. These were the houses of courtiers, often known as Prodigy Houses, and elements of classicism were making their way onto these grand buildings, though not in any strict classical style. Works by Serlio had been published in Europe between 1537 and 1575, and books were brought to England, but seem to have been used more like pattern books than full architectural guides. Longleat House, built by Sir John Thynne between 1572-1580, has string coursing and there are columns by the front door, the façade is also symmetrical. It isn’t strictly a classical building, but the elements are starting to appear here. It is also built of stone. This is the Tixall Gatehouse in Staffordshire, built C1780 by Sir Walter Aston, The house which stood behind it was from a much earlier period, and has since been demolished (as has its successor built in 1780!). The façade is symmetrical, and if you look closely you can see it follows the correct classical orders, Doric, Ionic and Corinthian, and has a classical balustrade, but is again not a strictly classical building. Wollaton Park was built by Sir Francis Willoughby between 1580- 1588. It is highly decorated, and uses some classical elements; it’s a rather eclectic building overall. Burghley House was built by William Cecil (Lord Burghley) between 1555 and 1587. The great west front seen here (built in the 1580’s) also has string coursing and some other classical elements. The ogee shaped turret roofs were also popular in Elizabethan buildings as you might have already noticed! Heydon Hall in Norfolk, built between 1581 and 1584, is a more traditional style Elizabethan house, but the classical influence can still be seen in the pediments above the windows. Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire is perhaps most famous for its large windows. Built by Bess of Hardwick (Countess of Shrewsbury) to replace a slightly older house (the ruins still lay next to the new hall) from 1593 to 1597. The famous rhyme ‘Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall’ is well deserved, the windows are huge, and make a bold statement of the Countess’s wealth. There are columns and string courses used here, but it still isn’t a strict classical building. Work on building Kirby Hall in Northamptonshire was begun late in Elizabeth’s reign. The shaped gables (strictly speaking only called Dutch gables if topped with a pediment) are another popular feature of Elizabethan buildings, and this building has plenty! There is another example of the classical orders in use, if not in the pure classical style to which they are usually accustomed! (Kirby Hall is a partial ruin in case you were wondering why there are windows with out a roof above!) Lyvden New Bield in Northamptonshire is another ruin, or rather an uncompleted building, begun in 1595 and abandoned in 1605. Montacute House in Somerset (C1598) is a fine example of Elizabethan architecture; Classical elements, symmetry, E shaped frontage, large windows and shaped gables. Westwood House in Worcestershire (C1600) is another example of those Elizabethan features; shaped gables; classical elements and large windows. Gawthorpe Hall in Lancashire (C1600) is the last house I am going to show you. It uses symmetry and classical elements, but its openwork balustrade and bay window and protruding tower behind mean it still isn’t a classical building. It would be a few more years, and within the reign of a very different Royal, that the first truly classical building landed in England! But more of that another time!!

Catriona Gray reveals the 20 most beautiful historic interiors in London, from Tudor dwellings to Modernist masterpieces

15 TOP SIGHTS IN SUFFOLK From mysterious shingle spits to chocolate-box villages, imposing castles to beasts doing battle, these are 15 of the top sights

Bełcz Wielki, gmina Niechlów, powiat górowski, Niederschlesien, Polen, Schloss, Historische Immobilie

Yesterday I went to Wollaton Hall with my daughter, the setting for Wayne Manor in the film The Dark Knight Rises. Unfortunately I didn't get to explore too much as there was a lot of heavy rain. As soon as it stopped, the big herd of Deer came out from sheltering under a large tree and I was very surprised how close we could get to them without them running away.

Large Houses to Rent for Parties and Weddings

We learned that knights were the solders and heros of the medieval days. They started training at 7 by going to another noble families manor to learn manners, train, and serve food to the noble family. They next became a squire. As a squire, they served and assisted another knight. They helped the knight put on his armor, took care of his armor and weapons, and went into battle with him. They were very interested in the knights armor and wanted to make their own! We created helmets to protect our heros heads. It was very challenging to cut this mirror paper, but they used their strong fine motor skills and with persistence they did it! Knights put their coat of arms on their shields because their faces were covered. The coat of arms helped identify them. The girls wanted to be knights also. I loved how the helmet below has jewels added to it. They made swords since a knight must have a weapon. I wasn't sure how to make swords with the materials we had available. I showed them paper, paper tubes and told them I had silver paint. A couple students and I figured out a way by rolling paper, flattening it and using a paper tube as a handle. Sword problem solved! I was very impressed with how responsible they were with these weapons! Swords could only touch swords, not bodies. They were fairly gentile in their sword play because they didn't want their swords to bend or break. We talked about how they could use their swords in the classroom for training but not for killing! They did very well training to be knights! This was a great lesson in self control and responsibility! I was very proud of them! Swords, armor and crowns stored for future play! They learned that knights had to live by a code of honor. A code of honor keeps us accountable for behaving a certain way. We have to stick to the code! We created our own code of honor for our class and displayed it, but I forgot to take a picture of it! I will add the picture later! We also talked about chivalry and how that means behaving in a courteous, generous, trustworthy and polite way! We explored other ways castles were defended. During our exploration time kids started making bows and arrows. They also created catapults for us to use as play and explore how they work. They had to predict what object would be catapulted the furthest and why! Many predicted that the lightest objects would go the furthest. After experimenting, measuring and recording their evidence, they saw that the shape also had something to do with how far an object will go! The catapults they made were set out and became a favorite toy as they experimented with loose parts to see how far they would go! We did have loose parts all over the place but they showed responsibility and cleaned it all up! Because of the interest shown in catapults, I am putting out a challenge for those children who are interested next week to create a catapult here at school out of whatever materials they can find! They can use materials from here or bring some from home! We will see who can create a catapult that can launch a foam cube the furthest! Who could have predicted that a lesson in force and motion would have come from a study about castles! The investigation phase is finished! We have turned our room into a castle while we investigated. This week the kids will pick an area from our castle inquiry that they feel they are an expert in to create a project and get ready for our presentation for you parents and other classes here at school! Another huge interest has been the challenge of producing both 2 dimentional and three dimentional shapes through drawing and construction. They have been loving this challenge! They all are determined to learn how to draw a hexagon, even though it is so much harder than constructing one! They have been coming up with their own statagies rather than me telling them how. I also love that those who know how are teaching others strategies that helped them! Stay tuned to see what else our investigators, inquirers, experimenters, engineers and scientists will come up with!

Inside old abandoned castle left to decay. Follow me on facebook. My homepage || blog || twitter || youtube || vimeo || tumblr || 500px || 1x.com || Facebook || Book

For sale: magnificent manse on 16 acres, comes with royal heritage, ready for restoration, ghost included