Country houses for sale

Views to die for at a house which bore witness to the Civil War

Penny Churchill looks at a house which, in its early years, witnessed a skirmish during the English Civil War.

Surrounded on all sides by the rolling acres of the Iliffe family’s Yattendon estate of which it was once a part, historic Manstone Farm at Yattendon, Berkshire, dates from the 17th century.

It was reputedly the scene of a Civil War skirmish in the aftermath of the Second Battle of Newbury, which took place in October 1644.

Several hundred years later, Manstone is an immaculate complex of period farm buildings which are up for sale with Knight Frank’s Hungerford office (01488 682726) at a guide price of £2m.

The property includes the four-bedroom main farmhouse, a separate two-bedroom guest cottage, and a magnificent tithe barn with planning consent for conversion to a five-bedroom house and a further open barn.

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For the past 33 years has been the family home of its current owner, who have extended cleverly to 2,720 sq ft while keeping the views to die for from every window.

Now, however, they are looking to downsize, bringing an opportunity for a new family to move to a location within easy reach of Newbury, Pangbourne and Reading –  ideal for growing families moving out of London for schooling or lifestyle reasons. The fact that this house is connected to fibre broadband, and is just 10 minutes walk from Yattendon with its school, church, shop and pub, should make the transition all the easier.

More details available from Knight Frank’s Hungerford office (01488 682726)