As someone who lives in the area, there is much to be found in SE9. Not all of it necessarily pleasant. What I was not expecting, however, was this glorious Tudor home, named Court Yard, which was once part of the Royal Court at Eltham Palace and built in the 16th century. It’s quite rare to find something like this for sale, but for sale it is, for £2 million with Hamptons.

It gets better. It is one of only three remaining Tudor homes in the area, constructed as part of the estate to house the Chancellor of the Exchequer Cardinal Wolsey; Eltham Palace was a former childhood home of Henry VIII. Court Yard is now a five-bedroom home, ideal for a family or a couple ‘seeking country living within a London suburb’.

Is there a moat bridge involved in reaching this property? There is. Does it have a ‘discreet postcard perfect Tudor façade, framed by cherry blossom’? It does. There is so much to love here, from both a history perspective and ‘gosh isn’t this just a nice and comfortable five-bedroom house’ perspective.

There are, of course, plenty of period features throughout. Exposed beams galore. Very small windows in place (as well as plenty of big ones). But overall, the property is modern in all the right places. A large functioning kitchen. Lots of light.

There is one bedroom that I feel I must draw your attention to, where the Tudor/Elizabethan theme could be described as a little ‘overwhelming’. But people are allowed to have fun, are they not?

Court Yard is complemented by a spacious garden to the rear, with a patio area directly adjoining the house and steps that lead down past box hedges to a manicured lawn. There is plenty of green space to be found in Eltham itself, with the Royal Blackheath Golf Course, England’s oldest, a short walk away.

This property on Court Yard is for sale with Hamptons for £2 million. For more information and pictures, click here.

The days are cold, the nights are drawing in... and it's that time of year when owners of large, ancient houses begin to fret about how to keep the place warm.

But not all owners of large, ancient houses, for at Hurlditch Court, in Devon, we have that rarest of beasts: a beautiful old house first erected half a millennium ago, yet which has underfloor heating throughout, all powered by a biomass boiler. A sustainable Tudor house, then? Such a thing does exist, and if could be yours if you want to get in touch with Knight Frank's agent Hamish Humfrey and make an offer — of 'over £3 million’, please.

Hurlditch Court — which is Grade II-listed — stands in some 14 acres of formal gardens, parkland and pasture on the edge of the ancient village of Lamerton, about four miles north of the lively market town of Tavistock, Devon, and five miles west of Dartmoor. The house and grounds have been sympathetically renovated by the current owners, who acquired the property in 2015 from its previous long-term custodians.

The house here was originally built in the reign of Elizabeth I, but modernisations such as the aforementioned underfloor heating have been possible due to a history which saw the place almost entirely burned to the ground. Not that you'd know it until you looked carefully: with oak panelling, stone mullioned windows and parquet floor, it's a home which screams character and charm from every brick and tile.

According to Ordnance Survey Archaeology, the original Hurlditch mansion was built in 1570 but then destroyed by fire in 1905 — except for the kitchen, which was incorporated into the house as it stands today, which was built by the architect Walter Sarel for Reginald Morshead. His father was the Revd H. J. Morshead, rector of nearby Kelly; his mother was the eldest daughter of Sir William Trelawny of Trelawne, Cornwall, a leading Cornish landowner and diplomat. The Trelawny family’s Devon seat was Collacombe Manor, near Lamerton.

A long-standing partner in Tavistock Bank, Morshead retired from business in 1889 and thereafter devoted his time and considerable energies to public work, representing Tavistock on Devon County Council for 23 years. He was also chairman of the Tavistock bench of magistrates, chairman of the trustees of Kelly College, vice-chairman of the governors of Tavistock Grammar School, an income tax commissioner, a member of the Devon Education Committee, chairman of the Lamerton Hunt and a member of the Tamar and Plym Conservators.

By comparison, relatively little is known about Sarel, apart from a list of his architectural commissions compiled by his widow, Charlotte, following his death in 1941, which includes 20 new houses built for wealthy clients. He also worked with Gertrude Jekyll on at least seven projects, including the design of an Arts-and-Crafts garden at Little Halings in Buckinghamshire.

Approached via a long drive that slopes gently down to the house, the striking slatestone and granite façade creates a lasting first impression. The court offers 8,855sq ft of elegant and well-lit accommodation on three floors, including, on the ground floor, an entrance hall, panelled reception hall and an impressive drawing room overlooking the garden.

There is also a panelled dining room, breakfast room, sitting room, study, butler’s pantry and pristine contemporary kitchen with a large central island and high-spec fitted units, plus an integral one-bedroom annexe.

A grand cantilevered staircase ascends to the first floor, where a large family room leads into the principal bedroom suite, which boasts a dressing room, en-suite bathroom and, in common with the other four main bedrooms, a bar within the walk-in wardrobe. There is also a self-contained two-bedroom apartment on the second floor.

On entering the house, one is immediately struck by its warmth: it's that under-floor heating, which is in place on all three floors, and powered by the biomass boiler.

Further accommodation is provided in a pair of semi-detached, two-bedroom cottages, accessed via a fork in the main drive. There is an excellent selection of outbuildings, including a newly built row of 10 stables, plus storage and two large farm barns.

Immediately surrounding the house are the formal gardens, which are designed and laid out in a Mediterranean style.

If you need more space, or family accommodation, you're in luck: the Hurlditch Gatehouse is available by separate negotiation at a guide price of £950,000, and it's a beautifully renovated three-bedroom house set in a quarter-acre garden off the main drive, in a private position well away from the house.

Hurlditch Court is for sale at £3m — see more details and pictures. The Gate House is available at £950,000 – see its separate listing here.

Credit: Strutt and Parker

Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

There's nothing quite like a proper Tudor house. As well as providing large open spaces for living and entertaining, they are steeped in history — what stories can these buildings, with their delicate pink brickwork and ancient timbers tell us?

As fine an example as you will see is Hales Hall, a seven-bedroom Grade I-listed Tudor house in nine acres near Loddon in Norfolk, jointly on the market with Savills and Blue Book Agency for £3.9m. Built by Sir James Hobart, Attorney General to Henry VII, one vast wing of the original house, which was constructed in the late 15th century, is all that remains.

By the 1960s, the property had fallen into agricultural use until it was bought by the Read family in 1971, who spent the next 30 years restoring it. Their efforts were improved upon when Hales Hall was purchased by historic building renovators Sheppard Day, which retrofitted the house with 21st-century conveniences, yet preserved the atmosphere and details of its 15th-century origins.

Over the past seven years, it has been under the care of the current vendors, who have, according to Lindsay Cuthill of Blue Book, ‘continued the work to breathe new life into this medieval masterpiece’.

Standing in the grounds to the south of the main house is the Great Barn, which, at 184ft, is the largest brick-built Tudor barn in England. Featuring 180 characterful ‘loophole’ windows once used for defence, it now operates as a venue for events, including hosting up to 48 weddings per year. The barn has underfloor heating, a fully equipped commercial kitchen, sound system and bar with adjoining wine and beer barrel store.

The eye-catching windows have polycarbonate glazing to reduce ‘sound break out’. Last used in December 2021, the gross income generated from the estate that year, including weddings and short-stay lettings, totalled £493,000. ‘Considerable potential exists to further increase returns, if desired,’ notes Natalie Howlett-Clarke of Savills in Norwich.

Hales Hall is for sale with Savills and Blue Book for £3.9 million. For more information and pictures, click here

Credit: Lillicrap Chilcott

An unlisted Arts-and-Crafts home in one of Cornwall's most desirable villages

Ven Ayr in Lelant is a six-bedroom beauty in the village of Lelant that boasts beautiful interiors and south-east facing

Credit: Symonds and Sampson

A gorgeous house in Devon with 12 acres of land priced at just £250,000... but there is a teeny, tiny catch

Grade II-listed Homebush Cottage might be a shell, but with a little love and renovation, can be returned to its

A £6.5m super-prime home in Devon: The 'best of both worlds' seaside home right across the water from Devon's most expensive town

Thalassa is a home that enjoys glorious sunsets, delightful beaches, privacy and seclusion — yet is close enough to the action

Credit: Strutt and Parker

Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

Rumours abound that the vision of Waterton House was conceived by that master of granite, Aberdeen’s own John Smith. The property is certainly a statement of that Gothic Tudor style, being built in 1850, and offers five bedrooms, outbuildings, and 1½ acres of gardens in the sought-after area of Ellon.

Now on the market via Galbraith for offers over £700,000, Waterton House has been sympathetically renovated in recent years. The classic interiors are bright and fresh and provide a great space for family living and entertaining, with four reception rooms including a new conservatory.

The entrance vestibule gives way to a long reception hallway, from which a spacious dining room and sitting room can be found. Moving through the house, the well-equipped kitchen offers direct access into the dining room, whilst the generously-proportioned utility room could double up as a second kitchen if needed.

A more informal lounge/family room and semi-circular conservatory completes the downstairs space, providing direct access to the gardens.

The five bedrooms are situated on the first floor alongside a shower room and bathroom. Two of the bedrooms are interconnecting, creating the opportunity for another bathroom (subject to planning, of course).

Approached uphill via a private tree-lined drive, the building commands terrific views of the surrounding woodland and gardens, while offering privacy, tranquillity and plenty of space to entertain.

The garden is also where you will find the striking log cabin, a terrific place to host a barbecue and al-fresco dining, come rain or shine. Elsewhere, the gardens are home to a charming bridge that leads over a small stream, an established orchard and a number of flower beds and lawned areas.

Ellon is found approximately 16 miles north of Aberdeen, bordering the River Ythan. The thriving town offers excellent shopping, recreational and sports facilities, as well as three primary schools and Ellon Academy Community Campus.

Waterton House is currently on the market via Galbraith for offers over £700,000 — see more pictures or enquire with the agent for further details.

Credit: Strutt and Parker

Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

On a fateful day in February 1527, a fresh-faced, 13-year-old boy, William Parr, found himself in the chapel at Stanstead Hall, the seat of Henry, 2nd Earl of Essex, to tie the knot with the Earl’s daughter, 10-year-old Anne Bourchier.

It was the beginning of one of Tudor England’s most disastrous marriages (Anne left her husband in the 1540s), but also the foundation of Parr’s fortune and, with it, of the hall’s reinvention.

Sitting pretty at the centre of a moat-encircled island by Greenstead Green, in Essex, Grade II*-listed Stanstead Hall—for sale through Savills at a guide price of £6.5 million—stands on 46 acres of land that had once been held by Robert Malet, Chamberlain of England in 1092, who promptly lost it after he had the misguided idea of joining a conspiracy against Henry I.

The whims of kings and the vagaries of marriage and inheritance eventually saw the estate land in the hands of judge John de Bourchier.

His son, Robert, 1st Baron Bourchier, would become Lord Chancellor to Edward III and, having fought valiantly for the King, was allowed to crenellate the house in 1341, according to the 1875 Handbook for Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire. The moat was probably added under Sir Robert’s tenure, too, making it about 681 years old.

In a swift social rise, the Bourchiers progressed from barons to counts (William, Count of Eu) and earls (Henry, 1st Earl of Essex) with an Archbishop of Canterbury thrown in for good measure (Thomas Bourchier, who had the longest episcopate of his times, 51 years). Then came Anne and the miserable marriage.

The combination of medieval mores and her ‘guilt’—she ‘lived in adultery with a person named Huntley,’ according to Thomas Wright’s The History and Topography of the County of Essex—ensured that, when the couple split, the hall went to Parr.

With a sizeable estate under his belt and his sister Catherine on the throne of England, his fortunes were assured and looked set to improve even further when Edward VI, who called Parr his ‘honest uncle’, made him Marquess of Northampton.

Like Robert Malet before him, however, Parr backed the wrong royal and lost his estate, his title and very nearly his head—after Edward’s death, he was one of Lady Jane Grey’s supporters and Mary Tudor didn’t take it well. Restored to his honours by Elizabeth I, he bought back Stanstead Hall, but must have decided he had had enough of it, because, according to some accounts, he sold it after only a few days to Sir William Waldegrave.

Nonetheless, during his time at the hall, Parr expanded and improved it, according to Susan James’s biography, Catherine Parr: Henry VIII’s Last Love. A 1553 account, related by Wright, describes the house as a quadrangular brick building of ‘great extent’, surrounded by a moat 44 poles in circumference and set in a 787-acre park with 1,000 deer and 3,620 oaks, ‘of a hundred years’ growth’.

Although Wright believed that little of Parr’s original home had survived, today’s hall still dates from the 16th century, it remains a building of great extent (10,900sq ft) and vestiges of its long past are visible in every nook, from the Tudor chamfers in the stair hall to the heavily panelled dining room, the intricately carved fireplace in one of the seven reception rooms and the ancient beams in some of the 12 bedrooms.

Even the 1913 and 1934 extensions are sympathetic to the period feel.

The first was built for textile baron Samuel Courtauld, founder of the Courtauld Institute, the second for his daughter Sydney and her husband, Tory minister Robert Austen Butler, later Lord Butler of Saffron Walden. Under their ownership, the house and grounds played host to many Tory grandees, not least Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin who, much to Lord Butler’s horror, was bitten by one of the family’s dogs.

However, he didn’t take it personally—according to Butler’s biographer Michael Jago, he turned to the pooch and said: ‘I quite understand how you feel; I want to do that to every supplementary question in the House at this time of the year.’

Despite this august history, Stanstead Hall still feels very much a home. ‘All the reception rooms are grand enough to feel that you’re in a country house, but also comfortable enough that you could sit in and read a book, watch television or be with the family,’ says selling agent Tim Phillips of Savills. ‘There is a real balance.’

Stanstead Hall is currently on the market via Savills with a guide price of £6.5 million — see more pictures, or enquire with the agent for further details. 

Greenstead Green: What you need to know

Location: 6 miles from Baintree, about 26 miles east of Bishop's Stortford and 18 miles north of Chelmsford.

Atmosphere: Greenstead Green Farm runs a successful boutique, gift shop and post office and Greenstead Green Barn Cafe also gets great reviews — especially their afternoon tea and scones.

Things to do: Plenty to do in the area, with golf courses, walks and larger towns to explore.

Schools: The Ramsey Academy, The Perse, Bishop's Stortford College and The Leys are all reputable local schools.

See more property for sale in the area.

The idea of living in a truly old house is an enticing one for anyone who loves the unmistakable character of building which has evolved over centuries, rather than decades. It's not always easy to tell just how old a house is — something which we ran into when investigating the oldest house in Britain a few years ago — as apart from anything else, houses change so much that they can look far newer than their years. And that is the case with Addington House, which looks like a splendid Georgian or Victorian house at first glance.

For sale through the Dulwich office of Knight Frank at a guide price of £2.95 million, Grade II-listed Addington House lies in the outskirts of Croydon, well within the M25. It lies within the Addington Village Conservation Area, one of the borough’s oldest settlements, which dates from at least Anglo-Saxon times — and the house itself is thought to be one of the oldest continually-inhabited residences in Britain.

The earliest part of the house is a medieval hall house from about 1450, extended with the addition of the first floor in the 1600s. A third phase of building saw the house extended again in the 1700s, when the main Georgian parts and the brew house were added.

Imaginatively refurbished by its present owners, who bought the house in 2018, Addington House stands in about 1½ acres of secret, tree-lined gardens, a short hop from the hustle-and-bustle of central London.

The interiors are full of charming details, from Inglenook fireplaces to elegant Georgian features and even a Tudor oven.

The accommodation spans more than 6,500sq ft of bright and cheerful living space, including seven reception rooms, a contemporary Shaker-style kitchen with an 11th-century flagstone floor, a 15th-/16th-century staircase and six well-proportioned, first-floor bedrooms, including a magnificent principal bedroom suite, with two further bedrooms on the upper floor.

The lower ground floor houses a cinema room, a games room, a wellness suite and a splendid wine cellar with beautiful exposed brickwork. There is also a large party and music room (a former brewhouse) that's perfect to entertain guests.

The house also has a long history: Addington Palace was the manor house of the ancient feudal manor of Addington, with Addington House its manor farmhouse. However, Addington ceased to be a manor in 1807, when the Archbishop of Canterbury bought both buildings.

Over time, the original Addington Palace fell into disrepair and was replaced in the 1780s by the present Palladian pile, built some 400 yards from Addington House, the only ancient house of the feudal manor to survive. One of Britain’s oldest continuously inhabited homes, it was part of a working farm until the 1960s.

Addington House is for sale at £2.95 million via Knight Frank — see more pictures or enquire with the agent for further details.

Croydon: What you need to know

• Location: East Croydon has excellent links to both London Victoria and London bridge.
• Things to do: Spring Park is an area of nature conservation, with swathes of bluebells under old oaks and chestnut trees, which is home to a large number of butterflies and a breeding ground for birds. A circular walk around Spring Park and Addington Village takes in the Shirley windmill. Golf is at The Addington Golf Club and Spring Park, and of course both Croydon itself (at Fairfields Hall) and nearby Central London offer plenty of culture and shopping opportunities.
• Schools: Applegarth Academy, Good Shepherd Catholic Primary and Nursery School and Castle Hill Academy are all rated good by Ofsted, but there are plenty of options available in the area, including Royal Russell School, Whitgift, Trinity, The Cedars, Shirley High School and Old Palace. A foundation coach service also provides access to Dulwich Prep, Dulwich College, Alleyn's and James Allen's Girls School.Find more properties in the area.

Credit: H Tiddy

12 stunning character properties for sale at under £400,000

Thatched homes in Cornwall and West Sussex are among the many highlights of these gorgeous character cottages for sale.

Credit: Savills

Seven gorgeous country houses for sale in Wiltshire

Wiltshire is an ideal place for people seeking country houses for sale with real bucolic charm, while still being easily

Period homes are the cream of the crop of any estate agent. Beautiful, wreathed in history (and often a fair bit of land besides), they're particularly highly desired when they also benefit from a fairly central location.

One such picture-perfect Georgian house that dates from Tudor times is Grade II*-listed Hurst Lodge, in the village of Hurst, two miles from Twyford and seven miles from Henley-on-Thames, which comes to the market through the Henley offices of Savills and Knight Frank at a guide price of £10m.

For sale for only the second time in more than 80 years, the Elizabethan core of the house was built in about 1580 by John Barker, who was Gentleman Usher to Elizabeth I for 34 years.

In 1697, the property passed to Barker’s granddaughter, Frances Fairfax, wife of 4th Lord Cardross, later Earl of Buchan; they added the Georgian façade in about 1700.

In the 1740s, her family sold Hurst Lodge to lawyer Robert Palmer, in whose family it remained until 1919, when it was bought by Sir Philip Martineau.

Shortly before the Second World War, James Palmer-Tomkinson bought Hurst Lodge and added a major extension before leaving it, in the 1950s, to his daughter, Lady Ingram, in whose family it remained before being sold to its current owners in 2004.

One of Berkshire’s most important historic houses – soon to benefit from Twyford’s long-awaited Crossrail link – Hurst Lodge stands in 46 acres of splendid gardens and grounds that include cottages, paddocks, ponds and woodland, stabling, barns, extensive garaging and a former squash court.

During their tenure, the owners have modernised the previously ‘tired’ interior to create a vibrant contemporary living space with seven reception rooms, a large master-bedroom suite, 11 further bedrooms and nine further bathrooms laid out over two floors.

Hurst Lodge is the market through the Henley offices of Savills and Knight Frank at a guide price of £10m. Click here for more information and images. 

A 'manor house in miniature' full of beautiful Tudor features

A 'manor house in miniature' full of beautiful Tudor features

The Tudor mansion in Sussex where Lutyens and Jekyll pooled their talents

Legh Manor: The Tudor mansion in Sussex where Lutyens and Jekyll worked together

The immaculately restored Tudor property once owned by a prolific society painter

The stylish renovation of Bilting Court has combined Tudor charm with all the comforts of 21st century living.

The Kent manor with an original Tudor fireplace and space for a string of horses

Not only is Solton Manor one of Kent's most beautiful country houses, but it also boasts an interesting and chequered

Alston Court, Suffolk: A vivid insight into Tudor living on the grand scale

One of the most important late-medieval merchant’s houses in the country offers a vivid insight into Tudor living on the

A Tudor house up for sale that stayed in one family for nearly a thousand years

The site of picturesque Flemings Hall at Bedingfield was granted by William the Conqueror and remained in the same family

Kent — £1,750,000

Half a mile from St Margaret's Bay, an attractive seaside village nestling in the famous White Cliffs of Dover, is this ancient, nine-bedroom manor house which is described by the agents as 'one of the most historically important Grade II listed houses in the area.'

There has been a house here for a thousand years or so — the property is mentioned in the Doomsday Book — but much of the appearance of the place as it stands now dates to the Gibbon family's ownership in the 16th century.

There are six bedrooms, a beamed wine cellar and also a cottage and hut that come with the sale.

For sale with Marshall & Clarke. See more pictures and details about this property.

North Yorkshire — £495,000

There is a date of 1664 carved above the door of Lower Hardacre, but this is actually a Tudor house dating to 1587 — the 1664 was a refurbishment and extension almost a century later at this superb, stone-built home near Bentham, sandwiched between the Forest of Bowland and the Yorkshire Dales.

The place could do with some updating, but it's a fine, spacious four-bedroom family home with lovely gardens, fishing rights and some wonderful features — not least the stone mullioned windows and a wonderfully cosy inglenook fireplace.

For sale with Fisher Hopper. See more pictures and details about this property.

Warwickshire — £1,250,000

In the village of Wood Bevington, near Alcester, this Grade II*-listed manor house is a fascinating mix of architectural styles, with its original Tudor H-plan layout having evolved and expanded into a beautiful 4,800sq ft home.

It's a beautifully-kept, six-bedroom home with a wealth of original features, many of which are rare and unusual — the windows alone would be the pride of many houses, while the wood pannelled drawing room and stone floor in the dining room are all beautiful.

For sale with Sheldon Bosley Knight. See more pictures and details about this property.

Somerset — £995,000

This grand and imposing country house near Westbury — with its train links to Bath, Bristol and the south coast — is an ancient home that has been updated beautifully; or 'seamlessly transitioned into the 21st century', as the agents describe it.

There is evidence of a house at Brembridge Manor as far back as the 13th century but it earns a place in this round-up thanks to an incredibly illustrious former occupant: Elizabeth I herself, who is recorded as the owner of the place in 1574.

It's not huge — there are just four bedrooms, and 1.6 acres — but it's full of charm, not least because of the perfectly-in-keeping furniture and fittings used by the present owners during their sympathetic updating.

For sale with Cooper & Tanner. See more pictures and details about this property.

Oxfordhsire — £3,250,000

Manor Farm, not far from Bicester, is a late 16th century home set within 30 acres of pretty grounds in a location that's superbly easy to get to thanks to its relative closeness to the M40.

As well as the main five-bedroom house there are barns, medieval fish ponds and pretty period features, from beams and fireplaces to a kitchen-diner with a flagstone floor.

For sale with Strutt & Parker. See more pictures and details about this property.

Credit: Strutt and Parker

Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

The first house built on the island given to Lord Nelson after the Battle of the Nile, with a heated swimming pool and a 90ft mooring

Sphinx, one house of a small community built on Pharoah's Island, is set on half an acre of land and

Royal residences where you can stay

We select five royal retreats—including one chosen by Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn—where you can spend the night.

Historic Otley Hall, near Woodbridge, is described by Pevsner as ‘perhaps the outstanding Tudor House in east Suffolk’ and, grandly, by Simon Jenkins, in his England’s Thousand Best Houses, as ‘an immaculate Tudor house with no edge untrimmed and no dust on any shelf. A cobweb would be an arachnoid impertinence’.

Today a well-organised family home with all the comforts that modern technology allows, the 8,200sq ft brick masterpiece retains the aura of a high-status manor house that has survived largely unchanged for some 550 years. It’s now for sale through Savills and Jackson-Stops at a guide price of £2.25m for a home set in about 10 acres of ‘magical’ gardens, parkland and woodland.

The hall offers four main reception rooms, a minstrels’ gallery, a large kitchen/breakfast room, five principal bedrooms, four attic bedrooms, four bath/shower rooms and a self-contained flat.

Highlights include the impressive Great Hall, with its screens passage, and the parlour, with its exquisite linenfold panelling, believed to have come from Cardinal Wolsey’s chambers at Hampton Court Palace.

A 1,930sq ft traditional timber barn and former stables have been converted to a multi-purpose function room and party barn. Combined with numerous promotional activities, the hosting of dinners, conferences and concerts and the use of the manor as a successful wedding venue.

This helps to generate a sizeable income that contributes towards the maintenance and running costs of the property. Legal opinion suggests that the activities of Otley Hall Events demonstrate a clear commercial use — arguably sufficient to justify a ‘mixed-use’ classification of the property for Stamp Duty purposes.

Otley Hall is for sale at £2.25 million via Savills and Jackson-Stops – see more pictures and details.

Ockwells Manor, Berkshire: An insight into the splendours of grand living in 15th-century England

A delightful timber-frame house offers insights into the realities of luxurious 15th-century living and the brutal complexities of Lancastrian politics,

A Tudor house up for sale that stayed in one family for nearly a thousand years

The site of picturesque Flemings Hall at Bedingfield was granted by William the Conqueror and remained in the same family

Approached by a long, tree-lined drive, The Old Hall at Barnham Broom in Norfolk stands in more than 11 acres of land on the banks of the River Yare, surrounded by farmland, yet only 10 miles west of the thriving cathedral city of Norwich.

The house offers more than 7,300sq ft of family-friendly living space, including four reception rooms, a kitchen/breakfast room, seven bedrooms and four bathrooms.

But there is plenty to attract buyers beyond that, including a chapel, stables and fabulous Tudor-style gardens at this delightfully-pretty Grade I-listed home. Following the owners’ decision to downsize, it is now on the market via Savills at £1.75 million.

The ups and downs of the place have seen a number of restorations over the years, but everything has been carefully done.

As a result, The Old Hall’s original architecture, including some recently discovered Tudor wall-paintings and oak carvings, has stayed remarkably intact over the centuries.

The original Tudor building was erected in 1514 by Sir Edward Chamberlayne, who accompanied Henry VIII to the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520.

In 1614, the house was remodelled by Sir Edward’s great-grandson, also Edward, who installed the magnificent plasterwork ceiling in the first-floor Great Chamber, now the drawing room. He may also have remodelled the rest of the house, which incorporates much of the earlier 16th-century building, although lack of funds probably inhibited a full-scale renovation.

The Chamberlaynes were an old family, but apparently neither rich enough, nor influential enough, to profit from the Dissolution of the monasteries and, by the turn of the 17th century, their fortunes were in decline.

In 1663, Barton Broom was sold to Sir Philip Woodhouse of nearby Kimberley and became a farmhouse, which remained part of the Kimberley estate until the latter was dismantled in 1923.

Thereafter it fell into disrepair until the 1960s, when it was rescued by a Mr and Mrs A. R. Hawker.

Architectural historian Mark Girouard spoke about the restoration of the house in Country Life in February 23, 1967, using it as a classic example of the situation faced at that time by some of East Anglia’s oldest, but least-known small manor houses.

‘Some of them have been done up and become gentry houses again,’ he wrote.

‘Others have been abandoned, and stand with sagging roofs and gaping windows in the desolate remains of their gardens.

‘Barnham Broom was for many years in the last class, and had, in fact, virtually been given up in despair by preservation societies, although they still doggedly tried to find a buyer. So it was very satisfying to find that it had been bought in the nick of time by Mr and Mrs A. R. Hawker and restored with both care and style – the latter a quality not always found in those who are interested in old buildings.’

Sadly, the restoration of the house by Mr and Mrs Hawker was not quite the expected happy ending to The Old Hall’s long saga of neglect. Its present owner, Hartley Booth – who, with his wife, Adrianne, bought the hall in 1977 – explains:

‘I was a young barrister working in London, when my wife and I got engaged and started looking for a house.

‘Having grown up in Norfolk, I knew there were lots of old manors around in need of repair, so I trawled through the lists of “Houses at Risk” and eventually found Barnham Broom. By then, the Hawkers had sold the house and it had once again fallen into disrepair.’

Following their London wedding, the young couple set off to spend their honeymoon at The Old Hall and, three days later, were woken by the sound of rain pouring through the roof onto the landing outside their room.

It was the start of a 41-year programme of restoration and improvement, which included a long-running battle against death-watch beetle and dry rot.

Over time, they rewired and re-plumbed throughout and restored the large, arched, 16th-century window in the dining room. They bought more land to protect the setting of the house, creating an arboretum of broadleaf trees in memory of John Evelyn, based on his Sylva: A Discourse of Forest-Trees (1664).

They also dredged and restored the spring-fed moat, a special feature of the Tudor-themed gardens laid out around the house by Mrs Booth.

The Old Hall in Barnham Broom is for sale via Savills at £1.75m – see more pictures and details.

A sprawling and beautifully-restored country house with woodland in the heart of Surrey

Tucked away near Farnham in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty you'll find Sentry Hill, a gorgeous country

Credit: OTM

A fabulous converted lighthouse for sale at a bargain price, with the ‘best views in Somerset’

An incredibly rare opportunity has come up to buy a lighthouse overlooking one of Somerset's most famously beautiful beaches.

Credit: Savills

A Victorian schoolhouse transformed into a magnificent family home near Oxford

This gorgeous former school in Oxfordshire is light and spacious, full of character and sits within glorious gardens.

The property market around much of Britain is tipped for a slow-down, but some areas are booming. And near the top of that list is Devon, where the beautiful villages of the southern part of Dartmoor offer glorious views and easy access both to Exeter and the sandy beaches of the south coast.

And this is exactly the sort of property that many of those buyers will dream of. Sitting on the edge of the brilliantly-named village of Lustleigh in Devon is the delightful 16^th century Wreyland Lodge, on the market with Knight Frank and priced at £1.75 million.

This thatched, stone-built home actually occupies a plot which has been a home since the 13^th century, though the house as it is today is essentially a Tudor building – albeit one which has been beautifully updated in the past four or five centuries.

It’s a five-bedroom home with all manner of interesting and characterful touches. Ceiling beams and wood panelling have been retained wherever possible, for example, while the huge inglenook fireplace in the dining room and the curving staircase – carpeted, but evidently stone-built – really show the history of this five-bedroom house.

Not all the rooms have quite such a 16^th century feel. The garden room overlooking the house’s glorious nine acres of grounds has a fresh modern feel, while the kitchen/breakfast room (complete with Aga) is sympathetically done yet replete with modern appliances.

As lovely as the house is, however, it’s the gardens which will be the biggest draw for many. As well as the formal gardens and lawns – approached by a thatched archway – there is also an orchard, a river, an outdoor pool, tennis court, stables and a paddock.

As if that weren’t enough, the property also includes a cricket pitch – one use by the village club. It’s a delightful ground, tree-lined on one side and with the River Wrey down the other, and has a remarkable history. The late Peter O’Toole often brought his cricket side, the Lazarusians, down to play here, and he proclaimed it to be his favourite cricket ground in the world.

His reasons for that accolade? The beautiful location, and the fact that the pub is just 20 yards away. ‘It’s hard to know what else a cricketer could want,’ he once wrote.

Wreyland Lodge is on the market with Knight Frank and priced at £1.75 million – see more details and pictures.

An impossibly romantic, wisteria-clad home in Cornwall which could be straight from a BBC drama

Dripping with wisteria and charm in equal measure, The Old Rectory in a picturesque Cornish hamlet is the sort of

A Dartmoor manor house with its own hydro-electricity, and space for horses and helicopters

Holystreet Manor lies in a sweep of the River Teign and some magnificent ancient woodland.

Credit: Bishops House - Chagford

The beautiful cottage in Dartmoor saved by extraordinary villagers’ efforts

This house survived its first 500 years thanks to locals' heroism. Now it's looking for a new owner.

Flemings Hall in Suffolk has a history stretching back almost a millennium – and that history is about to have a new chapter as it is on the market on the market via Savills.

The site of the house was granted by William the Conqueror to one of his knights, Ogerus de Pugeys, who subsequently took the name of Bedingfield, after the Saxon name for the area. His family was to own the house for 900 years, until 1934.

During that time, Sir Peter Bedingfield fought alongside the Black Prince at the battle of Crécy and was present at the siege of Calais. His descendants include Sir Henry Bedingfield, Privy Councillor to Edward VI and Mary I and custodian of Elizabeth I during her imprisonment in the Tower of London.

In the 1960s, the stage photographer Angus McBean bought the house and embarked on a major restoration of the wonderfully atmospheric house and its almost 5½ acres of grounds.

He lived there until shortly before his death in 1990, since when subsequent owners have brought the house and grounds fully up to date.

Flemings Hall (on the market at a guide price of £3m) stands at the centre of a typically medieval, defensive fortified-moat system. The house is built around a medieval core with a king-post roof forming a long straight front with a brick two-storey porch built in about 1550. Of particular note is the central Great Hall, dating from 1306, with its magnificent fireplace, carved oak mantelpiece and full-height linen-fold chimney breast. Oak beams and rafters abound throughout the house and on every floor are arched brick Tudor fireplaces and oak panelling.

In all, the hall offers some 6,960sq ft of accommodation, including five reception rooms, a study, a kitchen/breakfast room, seven bedrooms and three bathrooms. Sec-ondary buildings include a recording-studio complex, an open-plan entertaining barn and a 16th-century thatched barn.

Flemings Hall is on the market at a guide price of £3m) – see more details and pictures. 

The enchanting Hampshire home that hosted Henry V before he marched to Agincourt

During the Middle Ages, The Palace House was one of the finest residences of the Bishops of Winchester.

Château de Lassay: The castle of Bluebeard’s widow

This magnificent French castle has a remarkably colourful history, as Desmond Seward explains.

Historic former rectory with a sixteenth century mural of Henry VIII inside

The Renaissance wall art has been highly valued by Christie's.

One of the loveliest Elizabethan houses in Suffolk is up for sale: Otley Hall, a magnificent, moated property that is one of few Grade I-listed houses in Suffolk still in private ownership. It's on the market via Savills with an asking price of £2.5 million.

The manor was built by Robert Gosnold and other members of the Gosnold family in the 15th and 16th centuries, with alterations and additions carried out by subsequent owners in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

The Gosnolds had owned or been tenants of land in the area since 1401 and were living in Otley, where Robert was lord of the manor, from about 1440, although much of the hall as its stands today dates from the 16th century.

Notable rooms include the timber-framed Great Hall and the Linenfold Parlour, pictured below, whose splendid panelling is believed to have been stripped from Cardinal Wolsey’s chambers at Hampton Court Palace.

The Gosnolds were lawyers with links to the great, the good and the unlucky of the Tudor era - among them, Cardinal Wolsey, the ill-fated Earls of Essex and Southampton, the playwright 17th Earl of Oxford (a Gosnold cousin) and Francis Bacon.

Robert Gosnold III was Master of Requests to the Earl of Essex from 1599 to 1601 and the Royalist Col Robert Gosnold VI fought through three sieges during the Civil War.

Much has been made in guidebooks and local folklore of the role played in the founding of the first British settlement at Jamestown in what is now the USA by Robert Gosnold’s nephew, Bartholomew Gosnold, who lived at nearby Grundisburgh Hall. An introduction from his uncle secured a place for the young Bartholomew aboard the Earl of Essex’s expedition to the Azores in 1597.

He then joined Essex in privateering against the Spanish, thereby amassing a tidy fortune in a very short space of time. Irretrievably bitten by the exploration bug, in 1602, Bartholomew set out on a voyage to the New World, in the course of which he named Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard—the latter after his first-born daughter, who had died as an infant in 1598—but failed to establish a settlement.

On returning to England, he immediately set out to organise a second expedition, the planning and recruitment for which is said to have taken place in the Great Hall at Otley.

In 1606, he set sail again and, in 1607, was reputedly the prime mover in establishing the settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, where he died of a fever later that year, at the age of 36. Broken by the Civil War, the Gosnolds eventually sold the manor in 1674.

Commenting on Gosnold’s Otley Hall connection in his masterful England’s Thou-sand Best Houses, Simon Jenkins dismisses the notion that the USA was, in effect, ‘founded’ at Otley as ‘fanciful’.

Instead, he suggests, ‘we should be content with a superb example of 16th century Suffolk architecture… an immaculate Tudor house with no edge untrimmed and no dust on any shelf (and where) a cobweb would be an arachnoid impertinence’.

That was in the early 2000s, when the hall was owned by the writer and philosopher Nicholas Hagger, who carried out significant renovations over the years. Let to tenant farmers during the 18th and 19th centuries, Otley Hall had been comprehensively restored in the early 20th century by the Edwardian architect Percy Morley Horder for Dorothy Sherston, who bought the manor in 1910 and also commissioned Francis Inigo Thomas to design a formal garden.

During their tenure at the Hall from 1997 to 2004, Mr Hagger and his wife, Ann, also greatly improved the gardens, which are both formal and informal and provide a wonderful setting for the house.

Their successors, the present owners of Otley Hall, have not only improved the house and its 9½ acres of gardens and grounds, but have also expanded the existing conference and hospitality centre into a unique venue for corporate events, weddings and retreat days - a small but profitable business that can be continued or not as a new purchaser wishes, the agents say.

Timber-framed with brick infill and some colour-wash render under a tiled roof, Otley Hall, described by Pevsner as an ‘outstanding individual house - charming and picturesque’, provides 8,260sq ft of living space on three floors, including three grand reception rooms, a reception hall, a moat room, a study, a minstrels’ gallery, a kitchen wing, 10 bedrooms, six bathrooms, and an integral staff flat.

Credit: Strutt & Parker

Tremendous Tudor properties for sale, from a place once owned by Elizabeth I to a historic home under £500k

Fancy your own Wolf Hall? These properties boast superb Tudor features, fit for a king — or Queen.

The Tudor mansion in Sussex where Lutyens and Jekyll pooled their talents

Legh Manor: The Tudor mansion in Sussex where Lutyens and Jekyll worked together

The immaculately restored Tudor property once owned by a prolific society painter

The stylish renovation of Bilting Court has combined Tudor charm with all the comforts of 21st century living.

Bilting Court in the dreamy Stour valley, six miles north-east of Ashford, last came to the market back in 2009. It was described by selling agents Strutt & Parker as ‘imbued with character and charm, but now in need of updating’ – all that work is now done, and this delightful house is for sale once more at a guide price of £2m, again through Strutt & Parker.

The 2009 sale came following the death, at the age of 89, of its previous owner, the prolific society painter John Ward.

Famous for his portraits of the great, the good and the royals (he gave sketching lessons to The Prince of Wales), which earned him a CBE in 1984, he and his wife moved from London to Bilting Court in 1954.

Ward’s wife predeceased him by several years and so the house, covered in hand-painted pastoral murals across its walls and ceilings, was in need of a serious overhaul when its present owners bought it.

Originally a 15th-century hall house, Bilting Court has seen many alterations over the years, including a major remodelling in the fashionable Lutyens-esque style in the early 20th century and, most recently, the addition of a garden room and a newly constructed range of outbuildings.

Now, beautifully renovated, it’s back on the market, still imbued with character and charm, at a guide price of £2m, again through Strutt & Parker.

Centred around its magnificent medieval hall, the house has 4,952sq ft of comfortable living space, including splendid entrance and reception halls, two main reception rooms and a fabulous kitchen/dining room overlooking the gardens, the adjoining farmland and the Wye Downs - views shared by the newly built oak-framed garden room next door.

A fine oak staircase leads to four first-floor bedrooms, the most impressive of which is the master, with its original timber framing and crown post and stylish contemporary bathroom—a nice touch of luxury that blends happily with the rustic charm of the ancient timbers.

The same love and attention to detail have been lavished on the garden, which has been landscaped to fit the surroundings of the house, with a meandering brick path running past lavishly stocked herbaceous borders to a circular bed with a restful seating area.

From here, lush lawns lead to a lightly wooded area at the end of the garden. In all, Bilton Court has almost 6½ acres of gardens and grounds, including a kitchen garden, a pond and a paddock.

Bilting Court is on the market with Strutt & Parker at £2 million – see more pictures and details.

Credit: Strutt & Parker

Tremendous Tudor properties for sale, from a place once owned by Elizabeth I to a historic home under £500k

Fancy your own Wolf Hall? These properties boast superb Tudor features, fit for a king — or Queen.

The Tudor mansion in Sussex where Lutyens and Jekyll pooled their talents

Legh Manor: The Tudor mansion in Sussex where Lutyens and Jekyll worked together

Credit: Jackson-Stopps & Staff

A Tudor-style house with character and land, within easy reach of the city

Almost 100 years ago to the day, an article in Country Life by Avray Tipping (May 26, 1917) sought to set the record straight regarding the identity of the builder of the magnificent Grade I-listed Plaish Hall at Plaish, near Church Stretton, south Shropshire, which comes to the market through the Shrewsbury office of Strutt & Parker at a guide price of £2m.

A classic H-shaped, two-storey brick-and-stone manor house with gables and a Tudor front, it was almost certainly built in two stages, in about 1540 and 1580, for Sir William Leighton, an unforgiving Elizabethan judge who was presiding over a trial of prisoners while the building work at his mansion was in progress.

According to local records, Sir William ‘took occasion to enquire of the High Sheriff “whether there happened to be in these parts any man who could undertake the building of ornamental chimneys”’.

The Sheriff replied that the only person he knew who was capable was the very man that his lordship had just tried for a capital offence and sentenced to be hanged.

‘Then he shall go and do my chimneys first,’ announced Sir William, after which the unfortunate convict had his execution deferred while he built the hall’s famous ornamental chimneys. He was then sent back to prison, where his death sentence was duly carried out.

Happily, these are kinder days at Plaish Hall, where the current owners, who bought this lovely house, set in 12¾ acres of Tudor gardens and parkland, some 35 years ago, are now seeking to downsize, having carried out a meticulous renovation of the historic mansion and its grounds.

Tranquillity reigns throughout the house, which has 12,136sq ft of comfortable and practical living space, with five elegant reception rooms for large-scale entertaining, plus five main bedrooms, four bathrooms and attics, all of which abound in period charm and character.

A house for sale where Thomas Hardy broke his love rival’s heart

This lovely old vicarage in Cornwall has a quite incredible back story.

The Elizabethan manor that offered refuge to Charles II as he fled to France

Few houses can boast hundreds of years of history and a sparkling future.

The picturesque Littley Park Farm at Hartford End, near Great Waltham, Essex, is a house rich in history which is now on the market through Knight Frank's Bishop's Stortford branch at a guide price of ‘excess £5m’.

A rare survivor of a bygone era, the historic, 319-acre residential farm, set in rolling countryside, has miraculously retained its traditional landscape of ancient hedgerows and wonderful mature trees.

References to Littley Park date from 1295, when it was owned by Leez Priory. Following the Dissolution, Sir Richard Rich, then Chancellor of the Court of Augmentation, bought the priory site and lands and extended the house at Littley Park so that he could follow the progress of the hunt across his entire estate.

Rich is one of the most colourful characters in Tudor history, and one of England's most infamous villains of the 16th century. His reputation for skulduggery, duplicity, perjury and even torture rest in large part on his role in the persecution of Thomas More and John Fisher.

He was also personally involved in the only torture of Anne Askew, the only woman ever tortured at the Tower of London. Little wonder that historian Hugh Trevor-Roper once described him as a man "of whom nobody has ever spoken a good word"; yet somehow he thrived under successive regimes, ascending to the role of lord chancellor (in the reign of Edward VI) and the rank of baron before passing away peacefully at a ripe old age.

The oldest part of the house dates from the 14th century; a large chimney and an inglenook fireplace were added in the 16th century. The upstairs fireplace bears the coat of arms of the Devereux family, Lord Rich’s grandson having married Walter Devereux’s daughter, Penelope, in the late 1500s.

Littley Park became a working farm in the 17th century and passed, in about 1720, to Guy’s Hospital Trust, which further enlarged and modernised the house, with the addition of large sash windows. The current owners bought Littley Park in 2004, since when it has been sympathetically restored and upgraded, with the addition of extensive equestrian facilities.

Littley Park Farm House, listed Grade II, stands on high ground overlooking the Chelmer valley and has some 3,940sq ft of living space on two floors, with planning and listed-building consent for a further extension.

The kitchen and breakfast room are the heart of the house, off which are the spacious, light-filled drawing room, the dining room and the sitting room, with six good bedrooms and three bathrooms on the first floor.

Two large timber-framed Essex barns and a brick-built period barn have obvious potential for conversion, subject to the necessary consents.

The land at Littley Park — comprising 256 acres of arable land currently farmed under contract, 39 acres of permanent grassland, four acres of woodland and 3.8 acres of water and tracks — lies to the north and south of the main house, the tranquillity, seclusion and centuries of history of which it continues to protect.

‘We always know that the country market is in good spirits when we start getting calls for pretty, manageable weekend houses in Suffolk and Norfolk,’ says Philip Harvey of buying agents Property Vision, who have been fielding enquiries from London buyers, now that the seemingly relentless price growth of houses in the capital has finally ground to a halt.

Bold decision-making and meticulous attention to detail are second nature to motorracing enthusiast and entrepreneur David Pinkney, and these qualities have been used to good effect in the renovation of his historic Hertfordshire home, Grade II-listed Flowton Priory at West Common, Harpenden, which comes to the market through Savills (01582 465002) at a guide price of £10 million.

Flowton Priory, £10m, Savills

The original Tudor priory was built in 1525 in the Suffolk village of Flowton, near Ipswich, and transported to its present location, brick by brick, by a member of the Flower brewing dynasty sometime between 1925 and 1928. According to its 1984 listing, the building was extended and altered in its original style at that time, before being sold on in 1933. When Mr Pinkney was first shown the house in the 1980s by the golfer Ken Brown, he asked his friend to let him know if it ever came up for sale. A decade or so later, in 1996, Mr Pinkney had just moved to Monaco when he learned that Flowton Priory was about to come onto the market and bought it there and then, sight unseen.

* Subscribe to Country Life this Christmas and receive a bottle of single malt

Acting as his own chief architect, interior designer and landscape gardener, over the years, Mr Pinkney has transformed a classic 16th-century country house into ‘a property masterpiece, with a timeless quality that cleverly disguises its 21st-century sophistication', the agents say. Yet, despite the hype, Flowton Priory is no mere Tudor pastiche, but a beautifully engineered, free-flowing family home in an idyllic three-acre setting of pristine ornamental gardens and grounds, a little over half a mile from Harpenden's well-served commuter station.

And with future generations in mind, Mr Pinkney has planted countless trees and shrubs, including 4,000 buxus, an avenue of fast-growing Ligustrum standards and four fine cedars of Lebanon (already 20ft high) to complement the priory's ancient woodland. Far from damaging the house, the 1920s move has probably made it good for another 500 years, says Mr Pinkney, whose own contribution has been to meticulously reinforce its ancient fabric in ways that highlight its historic charm at the same time as making it work as a practical family home.

The whole house has been re-roofed. Damaged interior doors, all different sizes, were re-created in solid oak, with handles made by an Austrian blacksmith discovered on a skiing trip to Kitzbühel (‘We had no doors inside at all for 18 months,' Mr Pinkney reveals). A range of 20 stained-glass windows was commissioned from artist Jude Tarrant to harmonise with the priory's 16th-century windows, originally sourced from York Minster and Wells Cathedral. Seven bedrooms were reduced to five with the addition of luxurious period-style bathrooms. And a futuristic glass summer house, inspired by a building in the grounds of Marbella's smartest hotel, provides a wonderful entertaining space for summer evenings.

Shore Hall, £2.5m, Knight Frank and Jackson-Stops & Staff

The present owner of Shore Hall, listed Grade II, is Nicholas Duthie, who, on returning from the USA 10 years ago, bought the house with 21 acres of gardens, paddocks and parkland, from the Yates family, who still own the surrounding estate. For Mr Duthie and his family, Shore Hall, with its wonderful equestrian facilities and almost 6,500sq ft of easy-living space, is ‘by far the happiest place' they have ever lived in. But now it's time to downsize and the hall has been launched on the market through Knight Frank (020-7861 1722) and the Newmarket office of Jackson-Stops & Staff (01638 662231), at a guide price of £2.5m.

During their tenure, the Duthies have lovingly refurbished and updated the pleasantly rambling main house, which has four main reception rooms, a kitchen/breakfast room, a billiards room, traditional domestic offices, five main bedrooms, four bathrooms, two attic bedrooms, a one-bedroom annexe and a three-bedroom cottage.

They have also revived the lovely formal gardens, laid out by previous owners more than 100 years ago. Modern amenities include garaging for six cars, an outdoor pool and pool house, an Astroturf tennis court and five loose boxes.

* Country houses for sale 

* Follow Country Life property on Twitter

In Tudor times, the grandees of rural England built their manor houses of whichever material-brick, stone or wood was most readily available in their local area. According to an article in Country Life (September 16, 1899), ‘in the forest lands, where stout timber was easy in the getting, the knight or squire would raise a wooden dwelling, with storeys and windows that overhung, and numerous picturesque gables. Many such, like Rous Lench Court in Worcestershire, are scattered throughout the land, but if few houses of this class have maintained their ancient state, fewer still have gardens so wholly appropriate in character'.

More than a century later, that description of illustrious, 16th-century Rous Lench Court near the village of Rous Lench, six miles north of Evesham, is as accurate now as it was then, when the house was the seat of local land-owner the Rev Dr William Chafy, who lavished almost as much care and attention on the village as he did on his own house and gardens.

No less evocative are the magazine's haunting black-and-white images that encapsulate the charm of this remarkable house and its ancient gardens, substantially extended by Dr Chafy, who had them laid out ‘in ten terraces, with mossy flights of steps, beautiful terrace walls, and wonderful yew hedges enclosing delightful gardens and lawns'. Rous Lench's famous yew avenue, one of the finest in England, is said to have been first planted in about 1480.

 * Subscribe to Country Life and save up to 41%

Currently for sale through Knight Frank (01789 297735) at a guide price of £2.35 million, landmark Rous Lench Court, listed Grade II*, has been just as well cared for by recent owners, including the present vendors, who bought it in 2004/5 and have continued to restore it, establishing a wedding, events and holiday-cottage business to help fund the upkeep of the historic house and its 41 acres of gardens and parkland.

The present timber-framed house was built to replace an earlier manor by the Rous family, staunch Parliamentarians who were Cromwell's chief supporters in these parts, and almost ruined themselves as a result. The Protector is said to have dined at the Court before seeing off Charles II and his Royalists at the Battle of Worcester in 1651.

The 10,825sq ft house sits proudly at the end of a long gravel drive, halfway up a steep slope, with spectacular sweeping views over the surrounding counties. It has five reception rooms including a magnificent drawing room, a kitchen/breakfast room, seven bedrooms, five bathrooms, three cottages, outbuildings, garaging and stabling. The ‘relatively modest' guide price-marginally more than the £1.9m price quoted by Savills when it was last offered for sale in 2004-underlines the ‘fantastic value for money' to be found in this area, says selling agent James Way.

Much of the historical background to Rous Lench Court quoted by the author of the 1899 Country Life article was sourced from ‘the weighty tomes of encyclopaedic Nash', a reference to Dr Treadway Russell Nash's Collections for a History of Worcestershire, published in 1781 and 1782. By coincidence, Dr Nash's own family home, the early-17th-century St Peters Manor at Droitwich, Worcestershire, is also on the market, at a guide price of £985,000 through Andrew Grant (01905 734735).

Built in about 1618, St Peters Manor was bought during the Restoration by James Nash, a member of a Worcestershire family of woollen industrialists, who owned mills along the River Salwarpe. The estate then passed via Nash's son, Richard, to his great-grandson, Treadway Nash, a distinguished clergyman whose family held the living, from 1688 to 1810, of nearby St Peter's Church, where he himself is buried beside other family members. Long shorn of its estate, St Peters Manor, listed Grade II, is still ‘one of Worcestershire's loveliest town-centre period homes', says selling agent Andrew Grant, who has already sold it twice before.

It stands close to the heart of the heritage town of Droitwich Spa, the salt and brine capital of the West Midlands during the Industrial Revolution. Approached over a private cobbled path and offset by south-facing landscaped gardens laid out in classic parkland style, the 5,990sq ft manor has four reception rooms, a kitchen/breakfast room, five main bedrooms, four second-floor rooms, three bathrooms, a two-storey coach-house annexe, a separate games room and a dovecote that once boasted 750 openings.

Scholarship has always been highly rated in Worcestershire, and, when industry declined in the 19th century, many former factory buildings were converted into schools that continue to attract pupils from far beyond the county boundary. Surrounded by its famous hills, Malvern is not only a notable beauty spot, but a centre of cultural excellence with a choice of first-class State and private schools. One of the town's landmark houses is Grade II-listed Pickersleigh Court in North End Lane, Malvern.(pictured)

Historically linked to the Foley and Beauchamp estates, it was a key Parliamentary stronghold in the Civil War when it stood slap-bang in the middle of Malvern Chase, but now, following post-war development of the surrounding land, is undeniably more town house than country manor. During the Second World War, Pickersleigh Court was rented by the aviator Sir Alan Cobham, who pioneered the refuelling of aircraft in flight. Built in the late 1400s with early-19th-century alterations and additions, the picturesque, 4,600sq ft house has three main reception rooms, a kitchen/breakfast room, eight bedrooms, two bathrooms, outbuildings and traditional gardens. Agents Andrew Grant (01905 734735) quote a guide price of £575,000.

Wayborough Manor is a Grade II listed Tudor property on the outskirts of the Kentish village of Minster. The house provides substantial living accommodation full of character.

Many period features remain including exposed beams and wooden floorboards, as well as open fireplaces and brick hearths. Reception rooms are light and perfect for entertaining; the dining room has a double aspect and wooden floors and the study benefits from attractive exposed beams. The kitchen has all mod cons and a large larder attached, as well as a butler's sink.

Upstairs are five bedrooms including the master suite and a separate mezzanine bedroom, as well as further attic storage space and family bathrooms.

* Give Country Life for Christmas and save up to 40%

Outside a path leads to a spa room which is equipped with sauna, hot tub, and shower, and separate to the main lawn is a sunken area perfect for tennis. At the end of the garden is a pond surrounded by stone paving.

Wayborough Manor is located on the outskirts of Minster near the coastal towns of Ramsgate and Broadstairs; Minster has a regular train service to London.

The guide price is £1.25m. For further information please contact Strutt & Parker on 01227 473 737 or visit www.struttandparker.com.

* Country Houses for sale

* Country Houses for sale in Kent

* Follow us on Twitter

The Mill House is an historic Tudor property, dating in part back to the 13th century, which was still used as a flour mill up until the 1930s. The main house was thought to have been built around 1600 and was famously used by the Bloomsbury Group between 1917 and 1924, when it was home to artist Dora Carrington and author Lytton Strachey. During their residence there they were visited by well known fellow members of the group including Virginia Woolf and Maynard Keynes.

The property has been lovingly refurbished by its current owners and boasts the original restored mill wheel, as well as mahogany flooring, panelled walls and a feature fireplace with a wood-burning stove. Three separate staircases lead to the first floor, from the sitting room, the dining room and the drawing room. Upstairs are the master suite and three further bedrooms, two stylish bathrooms and a shower room/wet room. There is also a large morning room upstairs with vaulted ceilings and stunning views out over the river and gardens. On the second floor are two further bedrooms and a dressing room.

* Subscribe to Country Life and save 40%

Accommodation comprises: drawing room, dining room, sitting room, family room, morning/entertainment room and kitchen plus the master suite upstairs and five further bedrooms.

Outside landscaped gardens surround the house and feature a pretty wooden bridge sitting over the River Pang. The gardens are partially laid to lawn, interspersed with planting and mature trees including some striking willows. A riverside summer house provides fine views out over the water and a paved terrace to the side of the house is ideal for entertaining. The property also comes with fishing rights to the property as well as some adjoining properties. The grounds come to around 1.36 acres.

The Mill House is situated on a pretty country lane in Tidmarsh, a popular west Berkshire village dating back to Saxon times which has a pub, village green and a parish church. Pangbourne is just over a mile away.

The guide price is £1.9m. For further information please contact Strutt & Parker on 0118 9845757 or visit www.struttandparker.com.

* Country Houses for sale

* Country Houses for sale in Berkshire

* Follow us on Twitter

Ticklerton Hall is a superb country house located in the heart of the south Shropshire Hills. Listed Grade II the property has great charm and character, the oldest part dating back to the late Tudor period while its red brick façade was added in 1715.

The house has a range of period features including sash windows, oak floors, inglenook fireplaces and exposed beams and trusses. The Hall has been beautifully maintained by the present owners and provides an elegant family home in a naturally pretty setting.

Accommodation in total comprises: reception hall, dining room, sitting room, library, breakfast kitchen, boot room, six bedrooms and a family bathroom, three attic rooms and cellars.

* Subscribe to Country Life and save up to 30%

Outside the mature gardens are popular with birdlife and rare plants. The dovecote in the western garden is also separately listed Grade II and the two storey granary also has potential for conversion. There are stables and paddocks and the grounds are over 12 acres.

Ticklerton Hall is set within the beautiful south Shropshire hamlet of Ticklerton, located just three miles from the popular town of Church Stretton which has excellent amenities and a rail station.

The guide price is £995,000. For further information please contact Strutt & Parker on 01743 284200 or visit www.struttandparker.com.

* Country Houses for sale

* Country Houses for sale in Shropshire

* Follow us on Twitter

Aston House  is an attractive stone-built period property with a Georgian brick façade. Believed to have Tudor origins, the house fell into decay in the 18th century and was restored around 1780, giving the house its fine façade. The rear of the house is distinguished by a Kent Tower which gives attractive bow doors and windows to the dining area and the master bedroom above.

Period features of note include shuttered French doors, sash windows, a fine period staircase and original Georgian panelling in the sitting room. Accommodation includes two reception rooms and five bedrooms split between the first and second floors.

* For more properties like this every week, subscribe and save

Outside is a converted barn with exposed stone walls and ceiling beams. On the ground floor is a sitting room with doors leading out to the terrace, shower room and a galleried bedroom. Also outside are the lawned gardens with borders of flowering shrubs and interspersed with mature trees. The outdoor heated swimming pool is located to one side and is surrounding by a flagstone terrace.

Aston House is located within the Oxfordshire village of Aston five miles south of Witney. The property has good local amenities close by including primary school, village shop and a pub.

The guide price is £825,000. For further information please contact CarterJonas on 01865 511444 or visit www.carterjonas.co.uk.

* Country Houses for sale

* Country Houses for sale in Oxfordshire

* Follow us on Twitter

Tudor House is a fascinating and picturesque village house - its origins are a two bay hall house with a wing at the side converted to a single bay hall around 1500, and completely rebuilt at the end of the 16th century. Later in the 17th century panelling was installed and the house features a large range of period features from different centuries.

The rooms are beautifully proportioned with three first class reception rooms, conservatory, Smallbone kitchen/breakfast room, and five bedrooms all laid out over two floors, as well as a wonderful vaulted artist's studio.

* For more properties like this every week, subscribe and save

The gardens come to around a quarter of an acre and include a central knot garden stocked with plants reflecting the age of the house and a pergola which is smothered in honeysuckle and roses leading from a paved terrace to a further sitting area. There are also further borders planted with shrubs, roses and flowering trees.

Tudor House is situated in the centre of the charming village of East Meon which has excellent local amenities including a shop/post office, church, school and two public houses. Petersfield, five miles away, caters for further everyday needs and has a mainline station to London Waterloo.

The guide price is £950,000. For further information please contact Jackson-Stops & Staff on 01962 844299 or visit www.jackson-stops.co.uk.

* Country Houses for sale

* Country Houses for sale in Hampshire

* Follow us on Twitter

Tudor Cottage in Berkshire has lots of period features and benefits from a very useful location. Situated in a quiet lane within easy striking distance of various towns including Bracknell and Maidenhead, Tudor Cottage is a wonderful example of a fine Tudor property.

The accommodation is over two floors and comprises: kitchen, family room, dining room, drawing room, conservatory and either a small library or den with an inglenook fireplace on the ground floor; upstairs are the three bedrooms and two bathrooms as well as a terrace.

* For more properties like this every week, subscribe and save

Local sporting facilities are excellent with golf at many good clubs including Wentworth, polo at Smiths Lawn and The Royal Berkshire and fantastic walking and riding in Windsor Great Park.

The guide price is £775,000. For further information contact Knight Frank on 01344 624 732 or visit www.knightfrank.co.uk.

* Country Houses for sale

* Country Houses for sale in Berkshire

I have recently been delving into the history of a very unique home for sale near Canterbury in Kent. It features a rare example of a Tudor painted room inspired by James I’s accession to the throne in 1603. Not only can you sleep in a room painted in the 1600s, but the whole house has been lovingly restored and also features an original Tudor staircase and timber roof of a 15th century great hall.

The ornate Tudor artwork in Paramour Grange is one of the few examples of this kind to be found in a residential home. It features heraldic colours with bold octagonal design, featuring images of roses, asterisks and ovals. One of the key features is the top frieze which is inscribed with verses from Mathew 5 from the Bible. The art work also features the symbols of the portcullis and the fleur-de-lys along with the date ‘1603’, as well as the letters I.R (James I) and P.H. (Prince Henry – James I eldest son who died in 1612).

Despite the remains of this unique art work, there is very little evidence to tell the story as to why it was painted in the house. Local historians have speculated that it could have been a chapel-at-ease, but it is commonly believed it was painted for the newly crowned James I, who visited Sandwich shortly after his coronation in 1603.

One of the reasons for the survival of the artwork in Paramour Grange is that at the time of the Civil War, 50 years later, it was covered over. This is perhaps understandable if a blatant allegiance to the King may put the residents in danger of recriminations. The decorative art work at Paramour Grange remained covered and was only discovered 250 years later, in 1915.

Very little is known about the early history of Paramour Grange, but it is believed that it originated as a medieval hall and was heavily rebuilt in the late 16th century. The first reference we find to Paramour Grange is when the prominent Kentish family of Paramour were associated with the house – giving the house its unique name. The Paramour family were living in the area during the 15th century, but it was the presence of Thomas Paramour, Mayor of Canterbury (1607-1619) that directly links the house with the family in the late 16th century. It is believed that it was Thomas who was responsible for the painted room.

The Paramour family continued in the house until the 1650s, supporting the idea that the art work was covered over when new residents moved in or because of events associated with the Civil War. By the 1690s we find Paramour Grange recorded in the land tax records occupied by a farmer, John Foatt. Paramour Grange then continued to be the home of farmers throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

Today, the Grade II* listed Paramour Grange has been beautifully restored, highlighting the beautiful painted room, along with the Tudor staircase and many other historic features. The current owners even added a Jacobean-style knot garden to complete the picture of this historic home.

* More about Paramour Grange.

* See the full history of the house.

Paradise Cottage is believed to date back to the 16th century and has many exposed wall and ceiling timbers and open fireplaces – there is a particularly lovely Inglenook fireplace in the dining room. There are also original wood floors in some rooms, all of which are remarkably well-proportioned considering the period of the house.

Paradise Cottage has an entrance hall, drawing room, dining room, study, kitchen/breakfast room and four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a double garage.

Outside the gardens surround the property and have been well landscaped. To the front is a well-tended lawn with a stream running through it, the banks of which have been planted with spring bulbs. To the rear of the property is a further lawn with a herbaceous border up to the house and further back is an orchard with a variety of fruit trees; all in all the property stands in just under an acre.

The Cottage is situated just four miles from Theale in Berkshire, which provides a wide range of amenities including a train service to London Paddington within the hour, and Newbury is just eight miles distant.

The guide price is £750,000; for further information contact Strutt and Parker on 0118 9845757 or visit www.struttandparker.com.

* Find more luxury property for sale in February on our dedicated webpage. 

* Country Houses for sale

Tudor House, Upwick Green, Hertfordshire. With panoramic views over peaceful, rolling countryside eight miles from Stansted Airport, Peter and Delphine Hill?s home for more than 30 years will be launched onto the market next month. Mrs Hill is a garden designer and the garden is opened under the ?Yellow Book? scheme.

Grade II listed. 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 4 reception rooms, indoor

swimming pool. 1.25 acres. £1.65m. Savills (01279 756800)

This article was originally published in Country Life magazine, February 10, 2005. To subscribe click here.