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Amazon.co.uk Review
Simon Jenkins's England's Thousand Best Houses is a sumptuous, encyclopaedic treasure trove of a book--an indispensable guide for anyone who has ever enjoyed nosing around any of England's great abbeys, halls, castles and homes. Retaining the winning, easy-to-use, format of the wonderful bestselling England's Thousand Best Churches Jenkins has sought out, county by county, the most beautiful, arresting and historically important "houses" (anywhere that anyone has ever laid their head) that we have to offer. From firm family favourites such as Windsor Castle, founded by William the Conqueror; the stunning grandeur of Elizabethan mansion Speke Hall; the triumphal Baroque of Blenheim Palace through and onto smaller, more intimate discoveries such as West Yorkshire's Red House (built for a Georgian cloth merchant and home of Charlotte Bronte's best pal Mary Taylor); and the fine Restoration plasterwork in Hereford's Holme Lacy House.
Jenkins continues a project that Nicolas Pevsner so successfully initiated in his ranging architectural classics. Each entry has a pithily sketched history and is marked out of five and the book is replete with Quintin Wright's excellent photographs: a copy for the home and another for the car would not be outlandish. Inevitably, lovers of England's architectural heritage will have wished Jenkins had included--or written more fulsomely on--their own particular favourite but disagreeing with Jenkins never takes away from the pleasure of this lovely, informative brick of a book. If you are going to give this as a gift, make sure you ask for a copy in return. --Mark Thwaite --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'By our houses we define ourselves and by them we are known. The Englishman's home is more than his castle. It is his face, his refuge and his family hearth.' So says Simon Jenkins, who set out to create a list that is almost impossible to concoct - the thousand best houses in England. but by "best", Jenkin's doesn't mean big or grand - best means ambiance, character, that unique feeling of being lovingly lived in. And so his list includes everything from Buckingham Palace (three stars) to a small Georgian house in Spitalfield 9four stars), and castles, rectories, farm cottages and prefabs... All English human life is here to be enjoyed. 'The houses of England,' says Jenkins, 'are a treasure trove, a glory of humanity, a wonder of the world." Alright, he might be lacing it a bit with land of hope and glory and all that, but Jenkins has travelled throughout England, from Cornwall to Cumbria, to choose its most impressive, interesting and unusual houses. Not only does he include a full, rich selection of its great and famous houses and estates, but also presents an eclectic mix from the many thousands of towers, castles, halls, abbeys, cottages, private homes - even schools and prisons - of the country. From Blenheim Palace to Milton's Cottage, from Chatsworth to John Lennon's childhood home, from Spencer House to a tiny hop-pickers' shack in Kent, every architectural style and period is included, and setting for almost every kind of English life. Jenkins' only criteria are interest, distinction, and that the property should be open to the public. Check it out. You never know, your gaffe might be there!
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
72 of 77 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Another wonderful book from Simon Jenkins to follow up the excellent Thousand Best Churches. Sumptuously illustrated with colour photographs, it gives you succinct but informative reviews of each of the properties covered, from the humblest of dwellings to the grandest in the land. Broken down by counties, with a top 100 and a star rating system, this is an indispensable travelling companion. Sensibly he does not include opening times etc - these are easily found from the National Trust, English Heritage etc. You may not agree entirely with his selection - although I could not detect the omission of any personal favourites - but if you want discover and explore our rich heritage this bedside book is for you.
19 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
While Mr. Jenkins taste is impeccable in terms of selection, his latest book dangerously overstates his personal preferences for restoration over conservation. This was an implicit problem with his “Thousand best Churches” where he willy nilly suggested the replacement of statuary to niches and the re-application of missing heads to civil war defaced church ornaments. In “England’s Thousand Best Houses” Mr. Jenkins begins to suggest restoration policies for whole houses (e.g. Sutton Scarsdale, Derbyshire). Whether his view of the way in which our heritage should be preserved is right or wrong, it should not be allowed to bleed into his descriptions, which it does; all too often. His opinions regarding the houses themselves are both trenchant and entertaining in the best tradition of Pevsner and it is this which recommends the book highly.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a beatifully illustrated and brilliantly-written guide to England's best houses. Navigation is made easy through the useful organisation of the entries by county, and the excellent index and contents pages. Another nice feature is the ratings, where houses are given stars out of five, as if they were films, albums or books. These critical reviews are unfailingly objective and reliable, too.
The book doesn't just cover houses open to the general public (for example, Brocket Hall in Hertfordshire) and also covers such things as the occasional ruined castle (for example, Brougham Castle in Cumbria). In fact, what it does and doesn't cover is probably the only weakness of the book, becasue it seems a little random at times.
The book doesn't just cover houses open to the general public (for example, Brocket Hall in Hertfordshire) and also covers such things as the occasional ruined castle (for example, Brougham Castle in Cumbria). In fact, what it does and doesn't cover is probably the only weakness of the book, becasue it seems a little random at times.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1000 very grand houses
The title of this book by Jenkins is quite misleading. The 1000 houses he describes are very grand indeed, and normal houses inhabited by the British just don't make the grade,... Read more
Published 7 days ago by Dr. P. R. Lewis
England's Finest
A great and inspirational book to dip into. It has plenty of wonderful and evocative photos and is a fine companion to Simon Jenkins's earlier book 'England's Thousand Best... Read more
Published 2 months ago by ABC
Great Read - good bedtime book!!!!
Needed:
1. More colour photos
2. At least three volumes instead of one to incorporate more detail
3. Read more
1. More colour photos
2. At least three volumes instead of one to incorporate more detail
3. Read more
Published on 12 April 2010 by Stephanie Latham
Quite good
I think the book is good, but perhaps a little over-ambitious in its scope. Unfortunately, houses do not lend themselves to such a neat compendium in the way that churches did in... Read more
Published on 12 Jan 2004 by Anatole Pang
Recommended with one reservation.
I bought this book as a present and it certainly looks like a nice gift. However, I was disappointed that this book only lists houses that are open to the public. Read more
Published on 21 Dec 2003 by Andrew Moore
Listmania!
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