For sale through the Canterbury office of Strutt & Parker for the fourth time in as many decades, Grade II*-listed The Old Rectory, in the charming small village of Wickhambreaux, six miles east of the cathedral city, is a picture-perfect example of a classic Queen Anne country house.
Once part of extensive estates owned in the 14th century by Joan, Countess of Kent (wife of Edward, the Black Prince, and mother of Richard II) Wickhambreaux still retains its medieval layout, with the Grade I- listed, 13th-century church of St Andrew, the manor house, rectory, village inn and former watermill encircling the village green.
Selling agent Simon Backhouse, who has handled all four sales in the course of his long and distinguished career, quotes a guide price of £4.25 million for the exquisite former rectory, built in 1713 by the Revd Alexander Young, who was rector from 1712 to 1755.
Previously known as Wickham House and widely recognised as one of the finest early-18th-century houses in East Kent, The Old Rectory stands in more than an acre of gardens and grounds overlooking the church and mill.
The house provides more than 5,500sq ft of elegant accommodation on four floors, including four main reception rooms, a study, kitchen/dining room, eight bedrooms and three bathrooms.
In 2012, The Old Rectory was acquired by the architect and interior designer Giles Newby Vincent, who set about removing the ‘spaghetti junction’ of downpipes that disfigured its outer walls, as a result of which the house was swathed in scaffolding for quite some time, Mr Backhouse recalls.
Newby Vincent completed the reinstatement of the exterior to its pristine original by replacing cement pointing with lime-mortar render and filling the interior with Queen Anne and Georgian antiques. These fetched more than £500,000 at Bonhams in 2014, when the designer decided to sell The Old Rectory to fund the restoration of a dilapidated villa in Saint-Tropez, France.
The present owner, who bought the classic Queen Anne gem with its symmetrical façades that same year, has cleverly transformed the interior without losing its essential Georgian character.
Outside, the partly walled garden is a place of sanctuary. A renovated groom’s cottage — behind which the swimming pool and tennis court are discreetly located — doubles as an entertaining space, one of many scattered throughout the beautifully maintained grounds.
The Old Rectory is for sale via Strutt & Parker at £4.25m — see more details and pictures.
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
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.
-
'The watch is Head Boy of men’s accessorising': Ginnie Chadwyck-Healey and Tom Chamberlin's Summer Season style secretsWhen it comes to dressing for the Season, accessories will transform an outfit. Ginnie Chadwyck-Healey and Tom Chamberlin, both stylish summer-party veterans, offer some sage advice.
-
Lewis Hamilton, Claude Monet and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Country Life Quiz of the Day, April 29, 2025Tuesday's Quiz of the Day looks back at Lewis Hamilton's first win and ponders on the meaning of greige.
-
About time: The fastest and slowest moving housing markets revealedNew research by Zoopla has shown where it's easy to sell and where it will take quite a while to find a buyer.
-
A wisteria clad hall built by one of the founders of the Bank of EnglandCome for the history of Old Hall. Stay for the interesting interiors.
-
A gorgeous Scottish cottage with contemporary interiors on the bonny banks of the River TayCarnliath on the edge of Strathtay is a delightful family home set in sensational scenery.
-
Six rural properties with space, charm and endless views, as seen in Country LifeWe take a look at some of the best houses to come to the market via Country Life in the past week.
-
380 acres and 90 bedrooms on the £25m private island being sold by one of Britain's top music producersStormzy, Rihanna and the Rolling Stones are just a part of the story at Osea Island, a dot on the map in the seas off Essex.
-
A home cinema, tasteful interiors and 65 acres of private parkland hidden in an unassuming lodge in KentNorth Lodge near Tonbridge may seem relatively simple, but there is a lot more than what meets the eye.
-
A rare opportunity to own a family home on Vanbrugh Terrace, one of London's finest streetsThis six-bedroom Victorian home sits right on the start line of the London Marathon, with easy access to Blackheath and Greenwich Park.
-
A tale of everyday life as lived on Britain's most expensive streetWinnington Road in Hampstead has an average house price of £11.9 million. But what's it really like? Lotte Brundle went to find out.
