Bath Lodge Castle looks for all the world the archetype of the late-Norman English castle, with castellations, a huge timber front door and even – saints preserve us! – arrow slits.
Yet the whole place was built 700 years after the 12th century creations it mimics: it was created in 1806 as a gate lodge for one of England's largest estates, right in the middle of the folly craze which swept England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Now, a further 200 years on, it's on the market for £2.25 million.
Yet, technically speaking, this is no mere folly. Within months of completion it was granted official permission for crenellation – i.e. defensive fortifications – meaning that this is effectively a proper little castle.
Even in 1806, however, we very much doubt anyone except a mischievous teenage inhabitant would have been letting loose with a bow and arrow from those slits. Though today, those naughty teenagers could let loose while in the shower...
The castle's Grade II-listed features aren't just on the inside: there are several turreted circular bathrooms that are extraordinarily snug, while three of the 11 bedrooms having their own balcony or roof terrace.
In the castle grounds, it's fair to say that the medieval theme dries up a little. Instead of a space for jousting or falconry, there is a gym and a cabana with an outdoor hot tub, sauna, bamboo shower and an outdoor bar. Henry II would have no idea what hit him.
He would, however, have been more at home in the surrounding land: the house comes with a generous 3.6 acres that includes woodland, winding streams crossed by picturesque bridges and extremely pleasant lawned areas.
For the last four years, the property has actually been run as a boutique hotel in the village of Norton St Philip. Located seven miles from the beautiful city of Bath it could easily continue as such, but could just as easily be returned to residential use with fairly minimal effort.
Could it be returned to use as an actual castle, however? That might take a bit more effort...
The house is on the market with Savills for £2.25 million – see more details and pictures here.
Credit: Alamy
250 years of Bath’s Royal Crescent: From Druidic influences to big screen fame
2017 marks 250 years since the first foundation stone was laid.
Credit: The Gate House
A pocket-sized castle in Salisbury that is both adorable and affordable
Salisbury is one of the finest cities in the south of England – and if you're looking to move there,
-
‘Pope Paul V remains a popular effigy today, and gets blown up in Lewes most years’: A five minute guide to England’s wackiest Bonfire Night celebrationsThe market town of Lewes in East Sussex has not one, not two, but seven bonfire societies and its celebrations have been labelled the ‘only proper Guy Fawkes night left’.
-
A country house that was the set for one of the best-loved sitcoms of the 1980s is for sale, with 40,000sq ft of space, 39 bedrooms and almost endless potentialLynford Hall, a vast neo-Jacobean house that's been everything from a country hotel to an agricultural college, has come to the market. Toby Keel tells its story.
-
A country house that was the set for one of the best-loved sitcoms of the 1980s is for sale, with 40,000sq ft of space, 39 bedrooms and almost endless potential
Lynford Hall, a vast neo-Jacobean house that's been everything from a country hotel to an agricultural college, has come to the market. Toby Keel tells its story.
-
A sprawling castle set amid ancient woodland has come to the market for the first time in 150 yearsGyrn Castle, set amidst woodland on the outskirts of an ancient village, is now seeking new owners. Penny Churchill reports.
-
A Tudor Revival home built by a Victorian adventurer, with beauty, grandeur and its own putting greenFulford Hall is an idyllic country home, yet is situated less than a dozen miles from Birmingham. Penny Churchill tells more.
-
Five glorious properties for sale from the 11th to the 21st centuryA tithe barn, a Grade I-listed Norman keep, and a Georgian masterpiece all graced the pages of Country Life this week
-
You can now rent King William IV’s former home in London’s Mayfair — for a princely sumThe London property — with royal lineage — is on the market with the estate agency Wetherell for £25,000 a week.
-
Dream of revolution inside the 18th-century villa once occupied by Napoleon's French troopsAn apartment inside historic Villa Gnecchi Ruscone is on the market and it comes with a grand ballroom rumoured to have been frequented by Napoleon.
-
May the force be with you if you move into this London apartment block that Obi-Wan Kenobi (and Cher) once lived inOliver’s Wharf was once the residence of megastar Cher and the actor Sir Alec Guinness — as well as Mark Knopfler of the Dire Straits.
-
125 glorious acres of Elizabethan elegance for sale in Cheshire that comes with a moatIs this real life? Is it just fantasy? No, it's Holford Hall.
