The English country house / by James Peill ; photographs by James Fennell ; foreword by Julian Fellowes.

"Stately, grand, and a testament to the generations who have cared for them, the 10 English country houses featured in this volume are architecturally distinctive and filled with evocative family memorabilia, from commissioned portraits to monogrammed heirloom dinner services to the bells that once summoned the downstairs staff. Like Downton Abbey, these homes are still in the hands of descendants of the original owners. From Kentchurch Court, which has been the seat of the Scudamore family for nearly 1,000 years, to a delightful Gothic house in rural Cornwall to a charming ducal palace to Goodwood House, England's greatest sporting estate, this beautifully illustrated book showcases a wealth of gardens, interiors, and fine art collections. James Peill, coauthor of Vendome's The Irish Country House, recounts the ups and downs of the deep-rooted clans who constructed these homes and illuminates the history and legends behind these marvelous estates, many of which have never before been published"--Provided by publisher.

"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 stately Goodwood House, England's greatest sporting estate, this beautifully illustrated book showcases ten outstanding British country houses--all still in the hands of descendants of the original owners. James Peill, co-author of Vendome's The Irish Country House and curator of Goodwood House, recounts the ups and downs of such deep-rooted clans as the Cracrofts, landowners in Lincolnshire since the twelfth century, whose late-eighteenth-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, the photographer of this volume and its Scottish and Irish companions, has once again provided 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."--Provided by publisher.