Vanessa Thorpe

I always thought genealogy was as dull as looking at other people’s holiday snaps – until I found out about a 16th-century architect who transformed the stately homes of his era

A walk down a churchyard path, passing other memorials and plaques, can be an important, meditative time for bereaved relatives.

Master carvers say mass production of their bespoke work is a growing concern and upsetting for bereaved families

Celebrated British musician reveals close encounters with unhappy concert-goers on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs

The director’s trademark extemporising extends to touring suburbia to find the perfect setting for his latest production

Antony Gormley and Bridget Riley also pick works to be shown on high-res displays, thanks to a drive to put art at the core of the secondary school cultural syllabus

Acclaimed for her work on children’s books, the artist is teaming up again with her collaborator on Bear Hunt

New collection of author’s diary entries provides tragic insight

The Duke of Sussex and the former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson are the last two claimants still suing

Extracts from Mitford’s papers published but many more archives concerning British fascists remain concealed