They say you can’t tell a book by its cover….

Knightstone Manor in Devon is a 14th-century house with connections to Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, among others. You can read about it here. Well, it may indeed be 14th century, but to me it’s been so “got at” that it now looks modern. Externally, anyway. On the other hand, beautiful Haselbech Hill House…

A beautiful country house in the Hoxne Hoard village….

      Anyone who watched the brilliant BBC series The Detectorists will know what to hope of a home in Hoxne, Suffolk.   The village is the location of The Hoxne Hoard, the largest collection of late-Roman gold and silver ever found in Britain, today worth almost £4 million. And now the Old Vicarage in Hoxne is for…

Quaint Castle Combe….but what about all the visitors in summer….?

  Well, we’re all familiar with the above idyllic view of Castle Combe, which is surely one of the most picturesque villages in the whole of England. Just imagine the effect all our new housing developments will have on future generations. Will people be as enchanted then as we are now by this matchless example…

A Worcestershire castle for £500,000….?

I love delving into the glossy pages of Country Life magazine, because something of interest always turns up. This time I’ve happened upon the story of Ribbesford House on the banks of the River Severn in Worcestershire. Not only was this vast property once on sale for the ridiculously low price of £500,000, but Ribbesford…

Which duke? And which hill was marched up and then down again….?

  We all know the Grand Old Duke of York marched his 10,000 men up a hill and then down again. But which Duke of York was it? If you go here you’ll find there are a number of candidates, including the 3rd Duke, father of Edward IV and Richard III. In general, however, my…

Do you fancy living in a STANLEY property….?

  Well, as a selling point and “a little bit of history” it would seem that the above property’s provenance isn’t quite certain. It’s reportedly part of the Stanley family’s estates. This in itself is a dubious recommendation to any Ricardian! I mean, as far as supporters of Richard III are concerned, the mere name…

The 15th-century house of my dreams….

There are houses….and there are H.O.U.S.E.S. To me this one  is very definitely in the latter category. Something about it appeals to me on every level, and if I had £3.75 million to spare, I wouldn’t hesitate. Not that I’m interested in owning the pub in its grounds. 🥴 Yes, it’s been “got at”, but…

There was a crooked man who lived in a crooked house….

  We love to look at (and are proud of) our old medieval houses, and Lavenham in Suffolk is full of them! No wonder it draws in so many people, all intent upon seeing what England used to be like before the advent of modern building expansion. One of the most famous of the houses…

The house owned by Sir Thomas Wyatt, the man accused of being Anne Boleyn’s lover….

Here is another fine old house for sale, although way out of my price bracket. I’ve learned of it courtesy of Country Life magazine. Hunton Court, formerly Court Lodge, is tucked away near Maidstone in Kent and you can read about it here. There is a link to the estate agent’s details of the property,…

A Bruce mystery

Here is a Daily Record article about a rather nice Scottish castle for sale, that was apparently built for Laurence Bruce, half-brother of Robert I … except that we can find no evidence that he ever existed. By both the same parents, Robert’s brothers were Thomas, Alexander, Neil (all executed in 1306-7) and Edward, the…