English country houses and public houses

Which came first, the country house or the country pub? Well, the people of Great Britain have been drinking alcohol since the Bronze Age, but it was with the arrival of the Romans that the first inns, called tabernae, appeared. These were followed by Anglo-Saxon alehouses — meeting places for locals to drink and talk — and then came the modern public house.

The English country house, which is sometimes called a mansion, court, hall or manor, is a more recent creation. Its history dates back 500 years to the Tudor dynasty. King Henry VIII handed over many Catholic church properties to his favourite courtiers, who then converted them into private country houses. We're going to visit two of the finest, and we'll drop into a country pub or two along the way.