A 'landmark' Queen Anne house comes up for sale in the heart of a minster town

Ian Marriott of Savills in Nottingham is handling the sale of historic, Grade II*-listed Cranfield House in the minster town of Southwell, a landmark building the Queen Anne design of which was described by Pevsner as ‘the best design of all the Prebendal houses of Southwell… remarkably fashionable for the early 18th century’. Built in 1709 of brick with stone dressings and a hipped slate roof for canon George Mompesson, the house closely resembles nearby Mompesson House, which was built by another member of the family.

Now for sale at a guide price of £2.25m, Cranfield House boasts a wealth of period detail throughout, including its original grand staircase, wood panelling and fireplaces.

It offers manageable accommodation on three floors, with three reception rooms, a large breakfast room/kitchen and a range of additional rooms on the ground floor; a spacious master-bedroom suite and two further bedrooms on the first floor; and a further three bedrooms and a fully fitted bathroom on the second floor.

Cranfield House was originally known as Oxton One, the grandest of nine remaining large houses built over time for the Prebenderies, or canons, of Southwell Minster, whose income derived from the revenues of local parishes, known as prebends.

When the Chapter of Southwell Minster was dissolved in 1841, it was decided that the prebend system should also be wound up. Thereafter, as each canon died, his house was sold and his prebend became extinct. The Chapter finally came to its appointed end on February 12, 1873, with the death of the Revd Thomas Henry Shepherd, rector of Clayworth and prebendary of Beckingham.

Acquired in 2006 by a local businessman who is now looking to downsize, Cranfield House stands in the centre of its 1¾ acres of grounds and offers exceptional convenience combined with a high level of privacy, thanks to its high walled and gated entrance, private walled garden and landscaped gardens planted with a variety of splendid mature trees, including stands of beech trees and silver birch, with a line of mature lime trees to the eastern boundary.

The original coach house, a substantial building housing garaging and loose boxes, is thought to have scope for a range of alternative uses, subject to planning.

Cranfield House is for sale via Savills — see more details and pictures.

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