Berkshire, £495,000 West View, Bradfield Southend Dudley Singleton & Daughter (0118-984 2662) Four bedrooms, period features, 0.25 acre
This Victorian cottage is Catherine Middleton's childhood home. Michael and Carole Middleton bought the house in 1979, three years before their eldest daughter was born, and sold it in 1995 through the same firm that's selling it today-agent Dudley Singleton remembers Miss Middleton engrossed in schoolwork. West View will be auctioned off on June 3, unless sold privately beforehand
Kent, £3 million Frensham Manor, Rolvenden Layne Savills (01580 720161) Six bedrooms, three-bedroom annexe, 7 acres
A house has stood on the grounds of Frensham Manor since Saxon times, and it's believed that Edward I used the property as a summer hunting lodge. Today, Grade II-listed Frensham Manor is an elegant family home with interesting fireplaces, a vaulted dining room and oak panelling.
Gloucestershire, £725,000 King Johns Castle, The Mythe Knight Frank (01242 246959) Five bedrooms, tower, landscaped gardens
This medieval property, which is listed Grade II*, was once part of a larger estate, and is thought to have belonged to Queen Matilda, the wife of William the Conqueror. Today, the house is a five-bedroom family home of great character, with a particularly beautiful tower bedroom.
Oxfordshire, £1.8 million King's Manor, East Hendred Savills (01865 339700) 6 bedrooms, tennis court, 1.2 acres
Elizabeth I granted the King's Manor estate to her court favourite Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester. At that time, a Tudor house was built on the grounds. Although it has lost much of its land and buildings over time, King's Manor has kept intact its period character, and is now a charming family home.
Kent, £4.75 million Franks Hall, Horton Kirby Knight Frank (01732 744477) Potential for 10 bedrooms, two cottages, 80 acres
Franks Hall once played host to Elizabeth I, and the Queen's Room has a moulded ceiling bearing her coat of arms. Recently used as corporate headquarters, the property has retained many of its magnificent period features, and is ripe for conversion into a private house.
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Uniquely unique? The Yorkshire grain silos transformed into a home that's a symphony in glass, steel and curvesAmid the beautiful countryside of North Yorkshire, on the edge of the Castle Howard Estate, The Silos is a property for which the word 'house' simply doesn't cut it. And that's not the only way in which it's made us throw out the dictionary.
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Polluting water executives now face up to two years in prison, but will the new laws make much of a difference?The Government has announced that water company executives caught covering up illegal sewage spills could now be imprisoned for two years, under new laws — but many still have their doubts.
