Anyone who watched the brilliant BBC series The Detectorists will be able immediately to call to mind an image of what to expect of a home in Hoxne, Suffolk. The village is best known as the location of The Hoxne Hoard, whose discovery is exactly the sort of story that inspired Mackenzie Crook's eccentric, bucolic masterpiece.
The tale goes that a local farmer named Peter Whatling had lost a hammer, and asked his friend Eric Lawes — a retired gardener and amateur metal detectorist — to see if he could find it. What Lawes turned up was something totally different: the largest collection of late-Roman gold and silver ever found in Britain, with over 15,000 items and a value (in today's prices) of almost £4 million.
Best of all, Eric even found the hammer as well. It, as well as the hoard, is now on display in the British Museum.
Finding such a hoard wouldn't be a bad way to go about funding the purchase of a fine country house in the area, as it happens. The market in this part of the world is currently being driven by downsizers, according to Peter Ogilvie of Savills in Ipswich. One such home for sale has come on to Peter's books this week: he is handling the listing, at a guide price of £1.5m, of The Old Vicarage in Hoxne, a very pretty Grade II-listed home.
The house stands west of the medieval church of St Peter and St Paul in the delightful village that is Hoxne, five miles south-east of Diss and half a mile south of the River Waveney.
Originally built in about 1470 and home to the vicars of Hoxne for more than 500 years, the former vicarage was bought from the Church by its present owners, who have restored it and excavated its historic moat, which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument in its own right.
Set in 3¼ acres of moated grounds with views to the rear over the Waveney Valley, the house offers 4,783sq ft of unexpectedly light and bright accommodation for a building of its age, including four reception rooms, a kitchen/breakfast room, six bedrooms and four bathrooms.
That only leaves one question: is there any chance a new hoard might be found in those three acres around the house? Well, probably not. But on a long, sunny, summer's day, it might be fun to have a look in any case.
The Old Vicarage in Hoxne is for sale at £1.5m — see more details and pictures.
Reporting by Penny Churchill/Toby Keel
In Focus: The oldest known map of the cosmos, and the detectorists who sold an £8m find for just £13,000
A bronze ‘sky disc’, thought to be the world’s oldest map of the cosmos, is the star attraction of the
The Saxon treasure hoarders 'have been convicted of a crime that they needn’t have committed'
Treasure theft made the headlines after two metal detectorists were convicted of stealing a £3-million Viking hoard, but an expert
Credit: Finest Properties
A Northumberland farmhouse for sale which one gave up a forgotten hoard of medieval gold
This charming, Grade II-listed farmhouse combines fine views with the ruins of an ancient tower and lovely grounds.
Country Life Today: Why keeping your dog healthy means looking after yourself, and the discarded coin sold for £550k
Today's news round-up looks at how dogs take on our own stress levels, tells the tale of a chance find
-
An utterly charming island home in Scotland with gardens so beautiful they made the cover of Country LifeAn Cala on the Isle of Seil has a fascinating history that is only enhanced by its amazing setting.
-
The legacy od Dad's ArmyKate Green takes a look at Dad’s Army, the iconic BBC sitcom written by David Croft and Jimmy Perry.
-
An utterly charming island home in Scotland with gardens so beautiful they made the cover of Country Life
An Cala on the Isle of Seil has a fascinating history that is only enhanced by its amazing setting.
-
Soft tones and a sense of place: A Mayfair duplex that breaks the modern mouldA new designer-led residence at 60 Curzon in Mayfair reminds us that everything new doesn't necessarily have to look it.
-
'The very best North Yorkshire has to offer': The £25 million Kirkham EstateWith 1,103 acres and on the market for the first time in a century, we've got a new frontrunner for the sale of the year.
-
The reality of 20 years of house price rises in Britain, from the places that have had a charmed life to the spots where it's a struggle to move back homeAt first glance the ups and downs of the property market seem to even out over time — but dig in to the numbers and you'll see wild regional variations which paint a very difference picture. Annabel Dixon analyses new research which tells the story.
-
A historic Yorkshire hall, meticulously restored to its former 18th-century magnificenceWomersley Park is a masterpiece and one of Yorkshire's great historic houses. And it could be yours.
-
Rowing past dreams: An idyllic riverside home with a boathouse, croquet pitch and Olympic pedigreeThe Manor in Long Wittenham is a perfect Thames-side getaway. Comes with a free boat.
-
A bucolic Sussex home that's 'like stepping into a fairytale', yet just 30 minutes from central LondonFelmere House is a playground for nature and only 30 minutes from London.
-
Magnificent mansions across the Home Counties, from £3 million to £14 million, as seen in Country LifeA waterside dream home and a house and estate with over 1,100 years of history make our round-up this week.
