Table of contents for September/October 2021 in Britain

Forget 2021: we’re time-travelling back through the ages this issue. Begin with the Bronze Age in the beautiful Isles of Scilly, which hold the greatest concentration of archaeological sites in the country (Scilly season, p68). Then skip a few centuries to alight in Warwickshire, whose Tudor houses run the gamut from a manor that hosted Elizabeth I to the humble cottage in Stratford-upon-Avon where Shakespeare was born (On the Tudor trail, p14). Join the Georgians to take the waters – and take in the architecture – in glorious Bath (p77); and two centuries after he became king, find out why George IV barred his wife from his own coronation (The unhappy couple, p42). Fast forward to read about Her Majesty The Queen’s wedding day (A majestic marriage, p50) before returning…

The Great British Tree Biography by Mark Hooper (Pavilion, £16.99). Historic tales associated with 50 species of tree in Britain, from the Glastonbury Hawthorn to the Knole Oak. Raised from the Ruins by Jane Whitaker (Unicorn, £35). A study of how monasteries were swept away during the Dissolution and later adapted for secular use. The Story of the Country House: A History of Places and People by Clive Aslet (Yale, £18.99). A well-researched retelling of the British country house’s evolution from Roman times to today. The Book Lover's Bucket List: A Tour of Great British Literature by Caroline Taggart (British Library Publishing, £16.99). A roll call of 100 literary sites and landscapes, with photography and illustrations. Liquid History: An Illustrated Guide to London’s Greatest Pubs by John Warland (Bantam Press,…

The National Trust looks after more than 200 historic houses, which contain over one million objects. From works of art and vast tapestries to precious personal possessions, the range and breadth of the collections is astonishing and can be compared with those of the UK’s national museums. For many, it is the surprising miscellany and variety of the displays that make visiting these properties so fascinating, providing us with a visceral and often haunting sense of the past in the domestic setting. As part of the National Trust’s Year of Treasures, a new book, 125 Treasures from the Collections of the National Trust, spotlights some of the Trust’s most prized pieces. Selecting just 125 objects was a difficult task: “We have so many remarkable and important objects across hundreds of…

By 6am on 19 July 1821, Westminster Hall was packed with peers and privy counsellors, waiting to process to the Abbey for the coronation of their obese, ageing and extravagant new King, George IV. Suddenly, there came ‘a thundering knock’ at the door, and someone shouted, “The Queen – open!” All eyes turned towards the entrance, where the King’s estranged wife Caroline could be seen, standing on the threshold, ‘the crossed bayonets of the sentry’ blocking her path. “Let me pass; I am your Queen, I am Queen of Britain,” she cried, her increasingly angry commands echoing around the hall, before the heavy door was slammed in her face. It was the same at every entrance. By order of the King, Caroline was denied admission to the ceremony at which…

Walter Scott was already in his mid-thirties when he began penning the narrative poems that would bring him celebrity status, stirring readers to giddy heights of emotion with his love of Scotland: Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land! Whose heart hath ne’er within him burn’d, As home his footsteps he hath turn’d, From wandering on a foreign strand! Such patriotic sentiment, from The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805), typified Scott’s writing and as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of his birth this year it’s timely to reflect on just how much he influenced our image of Scotland: reawakening his countrymen’s pride in their national inheritance while also rehabilitating Scotland’s culture in the wider world…

As part of Plymouth’s Mayflower 400 commemorations, the Elizabethan House in the city’s historic Barbican area has now opened after a £1.7million restoration. Built in the late 1500s, the house’s first known owner was resident in 1631, with the last recorded owner in 1926. The ‘voice’ of the house leads a tour through four centuries of history, sharing stories and memories as visitors move between its restored rooms. From a washerwoman to a wigmaker, both the house’s rich and poor residents are presented through projections, images and even evocative smells. www.theboxplymouth.com…

As she had on the morning of her parents’ coronation, on her wedding day Elizabeth looked out of the window on to a Mall already dense with crowds, in this case streaked with the pewter shadows of a dull, cold day. Thousands had spent the night under the bare November trees, and, according to one report, ‘many women had slept peacefully in the gutter on blown-up rubber mattresses, in sleeping bags, swathed in travelling rugs or blankets’. Margaret, always Elizabeth’s closest companion and today her principal bridesmaid, is absent from records of this last unmarried awakening. Available sources do not reveal whether Elizabeth’s thoughts returned to her parents’ coronation, whether remembrances of any of the family weddings in which she had played her part as bridesmaid dimmed her view. In…

EXHIBITION Viking treasure Discovered by a metal detectorist in Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland in 2014, the Galloway Hoard is one of the most important UK archaeological finds of the century. Now on display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, a new exhibition, Galloway Hoard: Viking-age Treasure (until 12 September), showcases previously unseen details and discoveries, recently revealed by expert conservation and painstaking cleaning. Further research using cutting-edge methods – X-rays, CT scans and 3D models – is underway, set to uncover yet more Viking secrets from this 100-strong hoard of objects buried more than 1,000 years ago. www.nms.ac.uk…

Don’t let your destination dreams fade. Revive your sense of wanderlust with a brew in one of Emma Bridgewater’s ‘Landscapes of Dreams’ mugs (£19.95). From the Cotswolds to Cornwall, the Lake District to Norfolk, and a series of ‘Cities of Dreams’ too, these beautifully illustrated mugs are an antidote to the continuing pandemic travel disruption. If you are lucky enough to be on UK soil, don’t miss the British Ceramic Biennial (11 September-17 October), hosted in the heart of Britain’s ceramics industry, Stoke-on-Trent, also known as ‘The Potteries’. www.emmabridgewater.co.uk…

Located in the heart of historic Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare, and directly opposite the world-renowned Royal Shakespeare Company Theatres (with one of the best views in town of the famous Swan Theatre), The Arden Hotel, Stratford is an elegant and sophisticated boutique hotel. One lucky reader and their guest will win a two-night stay in a Deluxe room at The Arden Hotel, the star of Stratford-upon-Avon’s hotel scene. The hotel combines luxurious and stylish rooms with all the comforts you would expect from a contemporary boutique hotel, and there are plenty of spaces to relax dotted around, including a terrace to soak up the sun and a cosy afternoon tea lounge. Our winner and their guest will enjoy a full English breakfast each morning and a three-course dinner…

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RHS Chelsea Flower Show Manager In the first of our new interview series, we hear about a typical day in the run-up to the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show, whose show gardens are the haute couture of the international gardening world 5.30am I do some yoga, then have a big smoothie for breakfast to fuel my long day. The whole team moves on site – in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea – to build the show in the three weeks running up to it. We stay in nearby hotels for six weeks overall: for the three-week build, one-week show and two-week breakdown phase. 7am I’m one of the first people on site so I can have a walk around in peace, gather my thoughts and properly appreciate the progress…