East Anglia — an area immortalised in the paintings of John Constable — was last year named by travel guide Lonely Planet as one of the top regions in the world to visit, not only for its beautiful landscapes, but also for its historical treasures (think Sutton Hoo, perhaps) and sometimes wild, but always wonderful coastlines. Buyers looking east and seeking a tranquil haven within easy reach of central London can take their pick from four impressive properties on the market in quiet corners of this area of England.
Barclay Macfarlane of Savills Country Department quotes a guide price of £6.95 million for historic, Grade II*-listed Haslingfield Manor, which sits within a moated island at the heart of Haslingfield village, six miles south-west of Cambridge, 28 miles from Stansted airport and 47 minutes by train from Cambridge to London King’s Cross. Interestingly, no main road passes through the ancient rural village of Haslingfield, which is linked by country lanes to the surrounding villages of Harston, Barton and Barrington.
The interior of today’s Haslingfield Manor is a tour de force by internationally renowned interior designer Ilse Crawford, whose portfolio includes Soho House New York in the US, Babington House Hotel in Somerset and the boutique Ett Hem Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden. The understated elegance that is her trademark is evident throughout.
Haslingfield Manor’s almost 7,420sq ft of timeless living space, with accommodation, laid out across the three main floors.
On the ground floor you'll find the entrance hall, drawing room, library, sitting room, study, reception room, kitchen/breakfast room and wine cellar, play room, laundry room and cloakrooms.
The first floor houses the principal bedroom suite which is one of the most extensive we've seen in a long time, with ‘his-and-her’ dressing rooms, en-suite bath and shower room, and even a private yoga room/snug. There are also two further en-suite bedrooms on this floor, and three additional bedrooms and a family bathroom on the second floor.
The house is approached along a late-17th-century red-brick bridge over the original moat, Haslingfield Manor’s three acres of gardens and grounds have been completely redesigned by Dan Pearson, the recipient of multiple RHS Chelsea Gold Medals and creator of the Delos Garden at Sissinghurst.
The layout includes a formal rose garden, a kitchen garden and greenhouse, a children’s play area hidden in woodland, a wood-fired hot tub for evenings under the stars and gently flowing lawns and artfully planted borders designed for year-round interest. There's even a grass tennis court.
According to the Victoria County History (1973), Henry VIII’s physician, Dr Thomas Wendy, acquired the important Scales estate and manor house at Haslingfield in 1541. This was followed in 1549 by the acquisition of the confiscated lands of the Haslingfield chantries, which established the Wendy family as the parish’s leading landowner.
Wendy died in 1560, leaving Haslingfield to his widow, Margaret, ‘who soon married William Worthington and accordingly received Elizabeth I when she slept at Haslingfield Hall on her way to Cambridge in 1564’. Wendy is thought to have replaced the existing Haslingfield Hall with an H-plan, timber-frame mansion, which was remodelled in the late 17th century by his descendant Sir Thomas Wendy, who raised the roof and added a third storey with additional wings to the north. Much of that house was demolished between 1814 and 1819, and the east end converted to a farmhouse.
In the 19th century, the manor was owned by a succession of Wendy family members before passing to Earl de la Warr in 1803. The estate was sold in 1900 to local jam manufacturer John Chivers, who split up the land and sold several of the farms that same year.
Now, all that remains of the vast H-plan mansion are two three-storey, timber-frame bays of the impressive façade designed by Sir Thomas, which have been imaginatively integrated with a new contemporary interior by the present owners.
Haslingfield Manor is for sale via Savills at £6.95 million — see more details.
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