A wonderfully romantic home, born from a mill that's stood in place for 1,000 years
A former presenter of the BBC's Countryfile lived in and restored glorious Bulford Mill. Now, it's after a new owner.
There's a corner of Essex where, for 95% of the last 1,000 years, they've been using the local river to power their mill. In that time it's been owned by one of William the Conqueror's most loyal barons, to the Knights Templar, to an acclaimed composer and conductor, to a naturalist made famous by talking about cats on television.
The place in question is Bulford Mill, near the village of Cressing, which is currently on the market at £1,450,000 via Savills. And it's a beauty, as pretty a converted mill as we've seen all year.
One of the reasons we know so much about the 1,000 years of history at Bulford Mill is that one of those former residents made a TV series about the place, its history, and its restoration. That man was Roger Tabor, a naturalist-turned-television presenter who cut his broadcasting teeth working alongside the late Johnny Morris on Animal Magic.
Tabor — who went on to become world famous for his documentaries about cats, and was one of the first presenters of the BBC's Countryfile — lived at Bulford Mill throughout the 1990s. The last sacks of flour had left the place in 1947, and the presenter rescued Bulford from dereliction while making a wonderful feature of the old milling machinery.
Bulford was the site of a fulling mill, used in cloth production, for the vast majority of its working life, being converted to grind corn and barley only about 250 years ago, when the place was apparently substantially rebuilt. As a working building it continued to evolve and receive upgrades, and much of the machinery is 19th century.
Obviously it's possible to restore a mill without worrying too much about keeping the old cogs and pulleys, even in a Grade II-listed building like this one, but we absolutely love to see buildings like this where their former use is kept front and centre. The old bits of mill equipment jump out here and there like little surprises throughout the home, each one lovingly restored, buffed, painted or polished.
Tabor might have started the work, but it's clear that the owners who followed — the musician Ronald Corp, and latterly Nicole and Peter Ridler — have poured just as much love and attention into it.
As it stands now the house has a hugely-flexible five-storey layout, where the Ridlers have been able to host everything from table tennis tournaments to piano recitals (the ground floor acoustics are, apparently, superb).
There's over 6,300sq ft of space in the main house. A lower ground floor is set up for storage and utilities, with the main living areas spread across upper ground floor and first floor.
The former houses the main dining area, and family space, plus a separate snug.
The first floor, meanwhile, has a kitchen-breakfast room one one side, a huge living, entertainment and sitting room in the centre, and a library-slash-study.
The second floor has all five bedrooms — two of which are larger and en-suite, the other three being relatively small — plus a family bathroom and a separate laundry room.
Right at the top of the house is something of a surprise: a huge games room and music room, stretching the entire length and breadth of the house, and a space which we can imagine the entire family growing to love.
From all the rooms, windows look out onto the river and the five acres of grounds.
And those grounds are worth celebrating, for as beautiful as the building is, the setting is just as lovely. Nature is all around Bulford Mill, with ducks, kingfishers and even white egrets sighted swooping around the waterway that runs beside the house. Hard to believe that this is an eminently commutable home: it's a short walk to Cressing station, from where trains to London take under an hour.
In short, it's an idyllic slice of English countryside. No wonder there have been people calling this home for 1,000 years.
Bulford Mill is for sale through Savills — see more details.
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