A delightful 16th century home with some of Kent's most beautiful gardens has come on to the market

Legend suggests that the first person to call Kent the Garden of England was Henry VIII, who spent much time in the county and was reputedly so delighted by a bowl of cherries tasted in Flanders that he ordered Britain’s first cherry orchard to be created in Teynham, near Sittingbourne. Today, the county boasts some of England’s most famous gardens, among them those of Hever Castle, Chartwell, Penshurst and Sissinghurst, to name but a few.

An impressive new entrant to the ranks of Kent’s finest is the garden created in the early 2000s by East Sussex-based landscape designer Bonnie Lamont at The Grange in Bidborough, near Tunbridge Wells, which comes fresh to the market through the Wells office of Savills at £6.5 million.

Selling agent Robert Jacobs quotes a guide price of £6.5m for the immaculate Grade II*-listed, edge-of-village house, which stands in just under 16 acres of gardens and paddocks and, he says, ‘seamlessly encompasses three periods of architecture — 16th century, 19th century and 21st century — providing great character, while offering all the key amenities required for modern-day family living’.

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Previously known as Church House, the original timber-frame structure dates from 1530 and, according to an archaeological survey conducted in 2009, was altered relatively soon after construction, probably between 1530 and 1580.

A great deal of work was carried out in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when the house was divided into two cottages, among other changes. In 2021, a cleverly designed three-storey extension was undertaken behind the Victorian middle section by Stuart Page Architecture of Langton Green on behalf of the current vendors, who bought The Grange in 2000.

Highlights include the adjoining sitting room, dining room and study, built in the grand manner in the original 16th-century building.

The Victorian section of the house incorporates a large, bespoke kitchen/breakfast room fitted with top-of-the-range appliances: this flows through to the air conditioned garden room and an impressive orangery overlooking the garden.

The formal dining room, part of the 2021 extension, is a splendid, high-ceilinged, spacious room, with a large stone fireplace and three sets of double doors opening onto a crescent shaped terrace, which boasts distant southerly and westerly views.

There's is also a delightful Victorian coach house, which has been converted to a one-bedroom, two-reception room home.

The Grange in Bidborough is for sale via Savills — see more pictures and details.