Byfleet Manor (top left) in Surrey, a 17th century mansion on the site of an estate that pre-dates the Domesday Book, was once home to royalty. And in the hit ITV period drama it is Dower House, home to Lady Violet Crawley (centre), the acid-tongued dowager played by Dame Maggie Smith. The 6,000 sq ft home was put on the market for £3.95million, and offered with various separate lots - before selling for £5.95million. Savills confirmed it was a British person who bought it, with the sale representing a bumper profit for businesswoman Julie Hutton. She purchased the home around ten years ago for £1million, before renovating it while holding weddings on the picturesque estate. The eight-bedroom house has 18 acres of land with stunning period features.

The hilarious incident took place in the Scottish town of St Andrews and was caught on camera by one of those watching the scene unfold. The clip has since been viewed more than two million times. The unnamed 'preacher' was armed with a microphone and notes when he took to the town's main street and began ranting that same-sex marriage has 'ruined the economy.' The young bagpipe player, who is out of shot, can be heard approaching the scene before he appears in the corner of the screen (blue shirt, left). As the preacher attempts to edge away from the young bagpiper he continues his slow and steady approach before a passing police van arrives (right).

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (left), 41, has triumphed over his rivals as his country went to the polls for the fifth time in six years, after his party lost parliamentary majority last month. His supporters are out celebrating in the streets tonight as, with half of the votes counted, he continues to hold onto 35 per cent. Tsipras has seen support dip after he agreed a new bailout with EU leaders. Conservative rival Vangelis Meimarakis conceded victory to Tsipras, calling for a united government.

The novelist (right), who has died at the age of 77, was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer more than six years ago but kept her illness almost entirely to herself. ust a week ago, the writer and her actress sister met up in London where they enjoyed dinner together at The Wolseley in Mayfair. Both Jackie and Joan shared the photo (left) on social media, with Joan tweeting: 'Lovely evening@#thewolselybefore sis went back toLaLaLand.' The 'queen of the bonkbuster' stayed busy even in her final days, traveling to London to appear on Loose Women (inset) just nine days before her death.

DEREK LAWRENSON: Amidst unprecedented scenes of rancour and uproar that will forever tarnish the 14th Solheim Cup, the ladies' version of the Ryder Cup, Europe established a four point lead going into Sunday's singles matches but in circumstances that were truly shameful. Norway's Suzann Pettersen (top right) was the villainess of the piece on Sunday morning, perpetrating an act that went so far beyond the bounds of sportsmanship it left her English team mate Charley Hull (bottom right) in tears, let alone the opposition. The Americans were outraged. It all centred around the 17th green of a fourballs match held over from Saturday evening, featuring Hull and Pettersen against Brittany Lincicome and rookie Alison Lee (pictured in tears left). At the 17th Lee had a 12ft birdie putt, which rolled no more than 16 inches past the hole. By the side of the green Hull started walking, in a gesture that golfers everywhere will recognise as the concession of a small putt. All square down the 18th, we thought, as Lee duly scooped her ball up, but then Pettersen stepped in to say the putt had not been conceded. It meant an immediate loss of the hole for the Americans.

Speaking at the iconic plaza, a historic gathering point for political rallies which is dominated by a towering metal portrait of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, Francis told the crowd they should 'serve people, not ideas'. Later the same day, he shook hands with Castro, (pictured) now 89, during a meeting with him and his wife and family, at the former Cuban president's home as the pontiff presented him with a book written by a Jesuit. Castro, the nation's former dictator, gave Francis a collection of his own conversations about religion with Brazilian cleric Frei Betto. Hundreds of thousands had turned out to watch the pontiff's service this morning, including the current president, Raúl Castro, and president of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Drawing a line between serving to help others, and that in service of one political group, the Catholic leader said: 'Service is never ideological, for we do not serve ideas, we serve people.' But even as he spoke, reports emerged that dozens of activists were being arrested.

The bodies of a man and woman have been found in the bedroom of a house on Valley View Road, in Riddings, Derbyshire following a 'gas explosion' at around 7.30am this morning. The people who died are believed to be a married couple who lived at the house. Their family has been informed but they have not been formally identified. Neighbours have described hearing 'a loud bang' and say they saw a plume of smoke rising from the house shortly before the emergency services were called.

Saudi Arabia has deployed 100,000 security personnel to oversee the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage - underscoring the multitude of threats one of the largest pilgrimages in the world faces. Roughly 3million people from around the world are expected to converge on Tuesday at the Kaaba (pictured bottom right), in Mina and other nearby areas for the Hajj, which lasts about five days. During this time, members of an elite counterterrorism unit, traffic police and emergency civil defense personnel are among those deployed to help with crowd control and safety, while others will stay indoors to monitor the 5,000 CCTV cameras used in the operation (main picture, top right and inset). Saudi Arabia's custodianship of holy sites in Mecca and Medina has long made the kingdom a target of terrorist groups who want to wrestle control of them from the kingdom's Western-allied monarchy - and now also faces an expansion of Islamic State attacks.

Hungary has reopened its main border crossing with Serbia (pictured inset) five days after sealing it off to stop migrants entering its territory. Meanwhile, 7,000 migrants are expected to cross into Austria from Hungary at the main Nickelsdorf crossing, east of Vienna, today. And on Croatia's border with Serbia, a packed train left the town of Tovarnik amid desperate scenes of migrants running and fighting to board (top right). Slovenia's Prime Minister Miro Cerar has urged a swift all-EU response to the migrant crisis in a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. uthorities say about 2,500 refugees have come to Slovenia from Croatia (bottom right).

Around 180 kilos of explosives were used to bring down the three old apartment blocks at Tarfside Oval in Cardonald, Glasgow, as part of a controlled demolition today (pictured). Around 340 neighbouring properties were temporarily evacuated to allow the blocks of flats at Tarfside Oval in Cardonald to be safely demolished. In the immediate aftermath, several cars were left covered in dust from the blast. The high rise blocks of flats, which had lain empty for the past year, were demolished as part of plans for a £5million regeneration in the area. They had become expensive and difficult to let for the Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) and were increasingly unpopular with local residents.

The Nipper family, from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, had been enjoying a pool party with friends on July 29 when the tragic accident occurred. Alise Nipper had showed no signs of life when she was pulled from the water, but her determined mother Jamie (pictured inset with Alise and her father Chris) continued with CPR for 12 desperate minutes until there was a heartbeat. Despite suffering from traumatic injuries, less than two months later, Alise defied all expectations to make a full recovery and has even returned to the pool. 'The day we left [the hospital] it was surreal, I felt like I can't believe we lived through this,' said her mother Jamie.

Thai photographer, Chompoo Baritone has created a photo series to reveal what really goes on outside of Instagram's square frame. By super-imposing the Instagram image on top of another scene, the collection shows the pictures Instagram photographers don't want you to see.

Titled Fear and Loafing, Henry, bottom right, unveiled a fun-filled collection to appease his hip, young audience. Henry - an avid innovator - partnered with Visa Europe Collab to integrate payments into the catwalk showcase to offer a glimpse into what the future of fashion may well look like. Wearing an insect-inspired micro-chipped ring pre-loaded with money, Alexa Chung, top right, and Daisy Lowe, purchased items direct from the new collection on the world's first cashless catwalk.

These poignant pictures of Africa's biggest beasts in the wild show how fragile their lives are in the face of poachers and trophy hunters. In the haunting selection captured by British photographer Gary Roberts, he highlights the dangers faced by the anti-poaching patrol as they try desperately to protect elephants, zebras, lions and cheetahs from the money-hungry poachers. The photographer's extensive work in Tanzania and Kenya brought him into contact with conservationists and experts in the region, who paint a bleak future for the dwindling wildlife of Africa. In his upcoming book, he gathered together these different 'Voices' and noted their fears, hopes and wishes in the uphill fight for the survival of the African wildlife.

Spectators at Southport Air Show today cheered as the Red Arrows' nine British-built Hawk aircraft made a V-shape in front of the Vulcan. The Vulcan XH558 is the last airworthy example of the UK's famous V-Force fleet and 2015 is the delta-winged aircraft's last flying season. Enthusiasts who raised millions of pounds to keep the Vulcan airborne were 'devastated' in May by the decision to ground the Vulcan. But engineering backers pulled their support due to safety fears and the plane will be now retired to a new museum and aviation academy. The last Vulcan was withdrawn from service in 1984, but XH558 flew on from 1986 to 1993 as the single Royal Air Force display Vulcan.

Tattoo artist Ondrej Konupcik's freehand designs feature brush strokes and ink splatters. The 31-year-old, who lives in Znojmo in Czech Republic, sees only one client a day so he has 'enough time' to carry out the painstaking work. His impressive images have included, (pictured clockwise from top left) a wolf, phoenix, tree, elephant and flowers.

Tessa the Basset Hound is recovering at home in Morley, West Yorkshire, after a dramatic birth. But the baby Bassets are still proving difficult for over-worked Tessa, as she struggles to feed her seven sons and seven daughters all at the same time. Luckily, her owners Michelle and Andy Robinson and their three children, have all stepped up to help hand-rear the large litter. They have even colour-coordinated the puppies to ensure that nobody gets more than their fair share.

Children from around the world have been snapped next to dolls that seem to look identical to them. The toy doppelgangers have become a hit online with parents capturing images of their children cuddling up to their plastic pals. Toddlers with identical hair and facial features to their toys have been posted online by parents showing their children all dolled up.

Millions are expected in the city for the 16-day festival after Mayor of Munich Dieter Reiter smashed the first barrel, known as 'tapping' with a mallet to officially mark the beginning. After the first beer was opened, the so-called 'Muenchner Kindl' (the symbol of the city of Munich), left, waved during a traditional costume parade through the streets. People wore traditional Bavarian attire, top right, as they made their was to more than 35 beer tents offering German music, cuisine, and of course, beer that they could enjoy together, bottom right.

While most new parents don't take any joy from seeing their offspring reduced to floods of tears, this bizarre festival taking place in Tokyo, Japan, these baby bawlers are the exception to the rule. They are taking part in the traditional Nakizumo Festival. The event, which dates back hundreds of years, is based on the Japanese proverb 'crying babies grow fastest.' Hulking sumo wrestlers are employed by the children's parents and do all they can to make the babies bawl on command.

There is nothing modest about the Jumeirah sail-shaped hotel Burj Al Arab in Dubai, and that is the whole point. Gold plated iPads in every room, a revolving bed in the Royal Suite and 17 types of pillow await guests. The hotel has attracted celebrities, Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, Gigi Hadid, Claudia Schiffer and Kendall Jenner. But is the luxurious experience blissfully refined or ridiculously brash?

The black-and-white photograph (left) shows members of the Armed Forces standing with civilians as they inspect the huge crash site in Coulsdon, south London. The image is one of hundreds of artefacts used by an artist historian to recreate dozens of Battle of Britain scenes as sketches. Dennis Knight, who has released a book containing the drawings, visited villages across the south coast of the country in the 1960s to speak to surviving witnesses about the events. One of Mr Knight's detailed sketches shows a Messerschmitt fighter making a surprise attack on Croydon Airport on August 15, 1940 (top right), while a second colourful image captures the moment a Messerschmitt fighter crashed into the garden of Little Butts Farm, in Cousley Wood, East Sussex (left).