Two centuries ago, in a village that forms part of an estate granted by Henry VI to King's College, Cambridge, the former vice-provost of the college — a man named John Tomkyns — came to settle in Dorset. For a man of such standing a fine new rectory was deemed appropriate.
The result was the house you see on this page, now called Stour Provost Manor, but it's a place that was for many years known as The Old Rectory. As the house approaches its 198th birthday, it's for sale via Knight Frank — and the present owners have dressed it up to be the most extravagant Christmas present imaginable.
There's tinsel and trees, poinsettias and baubles, holly and ivy and angels and fairy lights, turning this Grade II-listed home into the sort of place that you'd love to host a Christmas party.
The house has been on the market for a little while (and was also for sale for a spell in 2022), so it's perhaps not surprising to see this clever little bit of marketing — although the £5.5 million asking price puts it out of last-minute Christmas shopping impulse buy territory.
It's probably also a doubly clever move. Stour Provost Manor is one of those houses that is very evidently a dream home in summer: there are wonderful grounds, a tennis court and lawns that stretch down to the River Stour. At this point in its path, the river is wide enough, deep enough and slow-moving enough for wild swimming to be possible, and the house has a small wooden jetty to enable you to get in and out of the water easily. So it's nice to show buyers that this home is ideal year-round.
Inside, the house is the very picture of late Georgian charm and grace. It was designed by William Wilkins, professor of architecture at the Royal Academy, who modelled it on his own house in Cambridge — a home which, sadly, was demolished in 1955.
Wilkins had actually worked with Tomkyns during their time together in Cambridge, collaborating on several new buildings and other words at King's College, including the entrance screen and gateway next to the chapel.
Stour Provost Manor is for sale at £5.5 million via Knight Frank — see more details.
