An 400-year-old rectory in Somerset with pool, exquisite gardens and its own Bridge of Sighs
Corton Denham House is a fascinating home in an ancient part of Britain. Penny Churchill takes a look.
Toby Keel
Down in Somerset, not far from the Cadbury Castle Iron Age hill fort, you'll find the ancient village of Corton Denham. Situated some five miles north of Sherborne and about 10 miles south of Bruton (the village dubbed 'the New Notting Hill'), Corton Denham is thought to have been settled in pre-Roman times, and appears as 'Corfeton' in the Domesday Survey.
By those standards, the old rectory is relatively new, having been built only 400 years, and rebuilt in 1750. The succeeding centuries have been kind to the place, and this exquisitely beautiful home — now named Corton Denham House — is for sale through George Nares of Blue Book at a guide price of £6 million.
This exquisitely symmetrical Georgian house — listed Grade II — stands in more than 10 acres of enchanting gardens, which have been created by the current owners over the past 25 years.
There are lakes and bridges, lawns and flower beds, formal areas and wildly beautiful shady spots at every turn. It's like stepping to the fantasy of an English Country Garden.
The house itself is equally beguiling. Constructed of the local stone with ashlar dressings, it offers more than 7,860sq ft of serene living space spread across the three floors.
Venture past the entrance hall on the ground floor and you'll find four reception rooms, a kitchen/breakfast room and domestic offices and cellars.
Above, a large principal bedroom suite with underfloor heating and two dressing rooms is the highlight, and seven bedrooms and three further bathrooms arranged across the first and second floors.
The first floor has one of the real curiosities of the place: Cordon Denham's very own 'Bridge of Sighs', which connects the main house to Stable Cottage, one of the other properties included in the sale.
The first floor of the cottage is a separate, self-contained two-bedroom apartment, tailor-made for guests, staff, or multi-generational living. The ground floor of Stable Cottage provides different types of space: a games room, freezer room, workshop, store and a garage.
Another separate building, The Clock House, is set up as a three-bedroom apartment, while other outbuildings include stores, stables, a potting shed, a garden machinery barn and a very fine pool house, with a kitchen-diner on its first floor.
It is, in other words, the epitome of a modern country house — quite astonishing when you consider that Corton Denham House was originally built as the village rectory, and served as such until 1929.
Corton Denham House is for sale through Blue Book — see more details.
