What goes around comes around – a statement that’s true not only of the UK’s estates and country houses, but of the agents who sell them. One man who has probably counted more prime properties in and out than anyone else in the West Country is Martin Lamb, formerly of Knight Frank and Savills, who, three years into a well-earned retirement, has dusted down his wellies to advise busy owners on the best way to sell in a difficult market.
Mr Lamb’s current clients include sporting owner John Simpson, whose passion for jump-racing has overtaken his love of fieldsports at his scenic 364-acre Great Bradley estate, at Withypool, near Minehead, Somerset, which is for sale at £4.5 million through Strutt and Parker.
Since acquiring the Exmoor estate in 2002, Over the years, Mr Simpson has upgraded Great Bradley Farmhouse, which revels in its wonderfully private setting away from public roads, with glorious views over the Barle valley – views which you can even enjoy from the absolutely glorious indoor swimming pool.
The house boasts some 5,700sq ft of accommodation, including a large dining room, a drawing room, a kitchen/breakfast room and an indoor pool on the ground floor, with five en-suite bedrooms upstairs.
The sale includes two cottages and a shoot lodge and cleverly designed gardens that enjoy the same spectacular views as the sheltered main house.
Mr Simpson has also established Great Bradley as a renowned private shoot for high-flying pheasants, voted one of the ‘top 10 secret shoots on Exmoor’.
Additional woodland is rented from the Badgworthy Land Company, which holds the hunting rights to the entire estate.
Fishing on the Barle in the valley below is vested in the River Barle Fishing Club, in which Mr Simpson holds two rods and which could be made available to a new owner by separate negotiation.
Over the years, Mr Simpson and his partner, Nicky, have developed the estate as a first-class equestrian training operation, centred on a stable courtyard with a 24-box barn and extensive facilities including an outdoor school, a covered horse-walker and a six-furlong all-weather gallop.
Having built up a string of more than 20 useful jumpers, the owner is looking to move to a more mainstream racing location, hence the sale of Great Bradley
Great Bradley is for sale at a guide price of £4.5 million through Strutt & Parker – see more pictures and details.
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
Spectacular Scottish castles and estates for sale
A look at the finest castles, country houses and estates for sale in Scotland today.
Credit: Knight Frank
A house by the waterside where magnificent views meet all mod cons
The houses we feature at Country Life are often hundreds of years old. This one is a relative baby – but
-
Child stars, Prince and nursery rhymes: It's the Country Life Quiz of the Day, December 5, 2025It's all in today's quiz.
-
‘Calf’s brains have a bland, gentle richness that soothes and cossets': Tom Parker Bowles on the joys of eating offalEating offal it is more sinned against than sinning, but it offers the ultimate in magnificent, fully immersive eating.
-
The wave of downsizing about to hit the property market in the UKThe Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget — and specifically the 'Mansion Tax' — has fired a starting pistol for downsizers, and the waves will wash across the entire property market. Annabel Dixon spoke to property experts across the country to gauge how it will play out.
-
A Georgian farmhouse that's an 'absolute gem' in an ancient village on Salisbury PlainJulie Harding takes a look at the beautiful West Farm in a gorgeous Wiltshire village.
-
It'd be crazy to buy this 500-year-old farmhouse just because of its utterly gorgeous Aga — so thank goodness that the rest of this place is also really nicePerry Mill Farm is an immaculate yet characterful four-bedroom dream home in the country at a price that will make city dwellers immediately start Googling 'working from Worcestershire'.
-
'A masterpiece of timeless elegance' for sale on the charmed Surrey estate once owned by Henry VIII and the Guinness familyThe Manor House in Burwood Park is a grand, enormous and undeniably impressive. Annabel Dixon takes a look.
-
A grand hall in Yorkshire with 400 years of historyCarlton Hall is a wonderful family home amid glorious gardens in a quaint village location. Penny Churchill looks inside.
-
Why don't more of us live in brightly coloured homes?It's not often that you see a home sporting the colour palette that you'd get if you hired a four-year old as your interior designer. But why not? The Blue House in Bethnal Green asks this and many more questions.
-
Five magnificent mansions, from a former monastery to an Art Deco wonder in the South Downs, as seen in Country LifeWonderful homes, including a superb beach home in Cornwall, all fresh on the market via Country Life.
-
A 14-bedroom 'miniature Downton Abbey' to call your own — and there's not a penny of Mansion Tax to be paidNorton Manor is an incredible period home that's on the market for £1.3 million.
