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Country houses for sale

A house on the River Avon where Shakespeare once passed out drunk is on the market at just £850k

James Fisher

The Old Falcon in Bidford-on-Avon isn't just steeped in history, it pretty much wrote it. It's also a large characterful family home.

I went on a stag-do to a pub once. It’s a pretty unremarkable sentence, except that we rented the entire pub on AirBnB and actually stayed there. We had the entire pub to ourselves. A good, if messy, idea for a weekend away.

I’ve always dreamed of living in a pub. If someone asks me what I would do if I wont the lottery and money was no longer an issue I had to worry about, then I would likely buy a pub and work there. It would be a nice way of keeping busy, meeting new people and I could make it just the way I like it. I know that doesn’t sound particularly extravagant for someone who has just potentially won millions of pounds, but I am a simple man of simple pleasures.

The Old Falcon, proudly placed on the High Street of Bidford-on-Avon.

The next best thing, perhaps, would be to live in a former pub or coaching inn. Something like The Old Falcon on the High Street of Bidford-on-Avon in Warwickshire. It’s currently for sale for £850,000 with Hamptons.

The main sitting room. We promised beams, and you’ll get them.

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Before we get through the nuts and bolts of the property, it’s important to understand that, as well as being a former coaching inn, it is also a site of serious historical importance. According to tradition, it was upon the steps of this Grade II*-listed property that King Charles II rallied his supporters on December 2, 1651, on the eve of the Battle of Worcester. It is also rumoured that Shakespeare once drank there, and had to have a nap under a tree nearby as he was a bit of a lightweight. 

The lovely kitchen, with more beams.

So a storied history indeed. And that is very much reflected in the walls of this five-bedroom semi-detached home. Oozing with character and charm, the property is now a much loved family home in the heart of Bidford-on-Avon. Wooden beams abound, and there’s even a stained-glass window of The Bard in the entrance hall.

The aforementioned Bard immortalised in stained-glass.

It has everything you could possibly want from a characterful local home. Set over three floors, there’s plenty of space, and the five bedrooms are supplemented by a study, three bathrooms, a dining room, sitting room and cellar. 

The master bedroom. Love those stone walls (and those radiators).

There’s also a garden to the rear, with a summer house, and a double-bay garage. Plust, all the various amenities of village life are on the doorstep. 

The Old Falcon is for sale with Hamptons for £850,000. For more information and pictures, click here