Leicestershire Border Offers in the region of £995,000

Set in the centre of this beautiful village is the ancient Grade II* Listed Moat House with approximately 4.6 acres (STMS) of grounds. This historic five-bedroom family home has been extended, restored and maintained with careful consideration granted to the respective periods in which the different parts of the house were built in.
The story
Jon and Marilyn Dunkelman had been looking longingly at the Moat House for 11 years – and when it became available they decided to snap up their own piece of history.
Soon after we arrived in Appleby Magna 18 years ago we walked round it with a local history group. We loved the house so much we wanted to buy it, remembered Jon.
He went on: We knew the village well and its famous house. When it came up for sale we decided we just had to live here; it’s very beautiful, charismatic and interesting.
Having managed to buy it, they spent six-and-a-half years turning the 15th Century gem into a comfortable home. And living in the famous Grade II* Listed property has been an adventure and a privilege.
Our project has been to marry the best of both worlds here. What we’ve achieved is to preserve and show off all the ancient features, and at the same time we have made it a comfortable home in which to live.
We consider ourselves custodians of the Moat House with great responsibility to maintain its integrity and atmosphere, he added.
ANCIENT APPEAL
The house is overflowing with history. The gatehouse hallway is just one of its spectacular features. There is a double door entrance with a huge stone archway. It’s at least 6ft wide and they used to ride horses through it into the courtyard of the manor house, said Jon.
The walls of the hallway, and other par ts of the house, still have graffiti scratched into the stone and the lime plaster some dating from 1673. The carvings above the main inglenook fireplace are believed to be religious, and the text engraved by an illiterate stonemason.
There is something medieval in every room, said Jon.
It is a very tactile home. I go round touching the oak beams and stone because they are so very beautiful. You feel as if you are sitting in history.
But the couple have also focused on bringing their home right up to modern
standards of comfort. We have a stone inglenook with a Clearview woodburning
stove in the drawing room, which is phenomenally efficient and we have just installed a new Worcester Bosch central heating boiler. said Marilyn.
LET THERE BE LIGHT
Traditionally, medieval houses can sometimes be dark, but the Moat House is
characterised by light and space.
The couple have used Farrow & Ball lime wash on the walls to enhance this
sense of space. The windows are dual aspect, facing east and south, which
gives us sunlight in the morning and afternoon, said Jon.
The kitchen also has a spectacular feature – a 16th Century timber-framed wall.
To continue the skilful blending of old and new, Marilyn commissioned local
craftsmen to fit out the Victorian-extension kitchen to her design.
She has insisted on natural materials, such as tiles for the floor, and oak for
the furniture and door.
This is an elm area and we found a slab of elm sitting on a pallet at the local wood yard that had been there for decades, so we had our kitchen table and chairs made out of it, said Jon. Dinner guests sit at it and on sunny days we have the door open
on to the terrace, looking out on to the moat. It is very special.
BEAMING WITH PLEASURE
Jon’s favourite room is the dining room with its exposed timber and carved beam running down the centre of the room. At the end is a medieval stone fireplace into which has been put a Victorian range.
I sit here and listen to music – the thick stone walls make it soundproof, he said.
He also finds the snug a quiet, private space.
It’s the perfect room to sit on a Sunday morning with a coffee and the papers, he explained.
WILD AT HEART
For Jon and Marilyn living at the Moat House has also meant really keeping
in touch with nature.
We have woodland rich in wildlife, and three types of water – the moat,
a running stream and a boggy area, said Jon. One summer’s day, I saw 16
species of butterfly, and photographed them. I also identified seven different
kinds of dragonfly. He also has spotted kingfishers, and the water teems
with wild birds including mallards, moorhens and herons.
Leaving will be a real wrench. It’s been a very hard decision to make, said
Marilyn. Jon added: The big thing for me has been the unusual combination of a
medieval home with its own wildlife habitat in the middle of a village.
Accommodation
The beautiful grounds of this stunning home form an idyllic backdrop and indeed the whole site is registered as a Scheduled Ancient Monument with the house itself being Grade II* Listed. The house as it stands today represents three building phases. The medieval stone Gatehouse was built in the 15th Century and forms the entrance to this remarkable home, while the late 16th/early 17th Century timber-framed section marks its period as a farmhouse before the final Victorian brick extension was added. The large stones used to build and extend the property, along with some incredible oak beams came from the original Manor House. Several of the timbers have been examined using dendrochronology, with the oldest dating back to approximately 1405.
From its Gatehouse entrance, stone steps lead up to double arched doors and the stone entrance portico. An ancient stone archway leads through to the hall and it is almost
like walking back in time with ancient drawings visible on the plasterwork between the half timbered sections of the walls and on the stones. A small room off the hall provides a quiet reading area with a stone window that frames views of the moat. There is also a tasteful shower room with WC and wash basin. Set into the floor is a viewing panel showing some, of what is, medieval foundations. Moving on you make
your way to the comfortable drawing room. The generous proportions of this room do not detract from the charming ambience and you are immediately struck by its light
and welcoming appeal. However, it is the large inglenook fireplace that forms the main focal point with its Clearview wood burner and inscribed oak bressumer, above which are carved stones with ancient writing and pictures. The dining room takes you to another era having a main structural moulded beam, believed to have come from the original Manor House. The arched stone fireplace was also rebuilt in this room from the Manor House and later had an ornate Victorian stove put in.
A large and inviting kitchen/breakfast room forms part of the Victorian extension to the house and one wall has the original external beams still exposed. A fireplace stands along another wall with a gas wood-effect stove, while the quarry tiled
floor is practical and works well with the bespoke timber cabinets, built-in dishwasher, fridge and butler’s sink. There is currently a gas Rangemaster oven and plenty of space for a large American-style fridge/freezer.
A small lobby houses the gas boiler whilst allowing access to the garden and large utility/laundry room respectively. Fitted with a butler’s sink and plumbing for a washing machine, the utility room offers invaluable storage space and drying
Even here you can’t fail to notice the stone walls, distinguished iron windows and hooks in the beams where meat may have once hung.
First Floor Accommodation
Stairs ascend from the hallway up to the landing with its polished oak flooring.
The master bedroom has two windows overlooking the moat with a view over the garden towards the meadow and over the ancient carp pond.
There are four other beautifully presented bedrooms on this floor, including one that is currently used as a library with its open fireplace, beamed ceiling and walls and lovely views. Another of the rooms boasts a tiger oak beam which was once the support for the pulley which went through a loft hatch to the ground below. In here a further elm wood door reveals storage to one side of a square stone fireplace
with brick plinth and exposed timbers, while the windows overlook the moat and the meadows beyond and capture views towards the church.
Brimming with character, a fourth bedroom incorporates an internal window, Victorian fireplace, a further stone mullion window and a deep stone waste recess believed to date back to the 15th Century. There is an additional light leaded window. The smallest of the bedrooms is currently used as a study with a mullion window but also has hot and cold water connected to the room should someone wish for a third bathroom. A well fitted and tiled bathroom completes this floor with a shower, roll top bath set into a corner, washbasin in a vanitory unit and a low level wc and airing cupboard.
Second Floor Accommodation
An enclosed staircase rises to the second floor where there are two further rooms – one with velux-style windows and the other with a mullion window. Offering flexible space, the rooms are currently used as a music room and a further study but with plenty of storage under the eaves they could equally be used as further bedrooms.
Setting the scene
The village of Appleby Magna is on the borders of four counties: Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Warwickshire, and Staffordshire.
The village grew up around the Moat House. The front garden, which has a footpath, is very much part of the village scenery. The moat itself has its origins going back to the 12th Century, along with the well on the site and an ancient carp pond, all once part of a large estate but now being an oasis of natural beauty with kingfishers, moorhens, ducks and dragonflies among the myriad of wildlife that visit the grounds.
From the office at the front of the house, there is the pleasurable distraction of gazing out on to the dovecote in the garden or admiring the village conservation area.
A tree-lined driveway sweeps between the house and the church at one corner of the
property, between which is a newly planted orchard with five varieties of old English apple trees and a medieval dovecote. By contrast, the back garden is quite secluded and completely private with well established trees. Originally the moat surrounded the Gatehouse and the Manor House but once the Manor was pulled down, the Gatehouse was extended to became the Moat House and the formal grounds are within the moat’s boundary. Here the sun shines in abundance on a terrace, sheltered by
an old Victorian brick wall with a pathway meandering down to a series of outbuildings used mainly as log stores now but with a studio at one end with a gardener’s toilet and a workshop. By the studio is an enchanting, secret patio just tucked away overlooking the moat and the prolific wildlife. A smaller outbuilding, originally a privy, is used as a small boathouse. The lawns are level with small but mature trees including an ancient plum tree and larger, more mature, willows, oaks,
ash and other varieties forming a belt of woodland screening the garden. The paddock has been used for horses for a number of years and there is a field shelter and a field water supply. It is well fenced and has hedgerows abundant with wildlife.
A bridge spans the stream and a small part of the original moat has been filled in providing a driveway to the side of the house. Set back to ensure it is not intrusive to the Moat House is a large double garage with electric up and over doors and tractor store at the back with a separate workshop.
Within easy reach
While enjoying the idyllic setting at the centre of a traditional English village, the Moat House is also very nearly in the centre of England.
We’re brilliantly situated, said Jon. The M42 is a mile away, and it is 45 minutes’ drive to Birmingham, Leicester, Derby or Nottingham.
East Midlands Airport is about 20 minutes away, and Birmingham Airport half-an-hour.
Central London is just an hour away by train from nearby Nuneaton, while smaller towns offering local services are at Ashby de la Zouch and Tamworth.
DIRECTIONS
From the M42 take junction 11 and on the roundabout take the turning for Measham.
Almost immediately turn right signposted to Appleby Magna. At the end of the road turn right and continue past the church. Just before the village shop turn right through a five bar wooden gate into the driveway for the Moat House.
For those with satellite navigation the post code is DE12 7AA (this will take you to Duck Lane and the Moat House is on the opposite side of the road next to the post office.).
Fine is the seller’s agent for this property. Your conveyancer is legally responsible for ensuring any purchase agreement fully protects your position. We make detailed enquiries of the seller to ensure the information provided is as accurate as possible. Please inform us if you become aware of any information being inaccurate