The country market might be calming down before Christmas, writes Penny Churchill, but this house will have people running up that hill to take a look.
There has long been a mill on the site of Shenfield Mill near Theale, six miles from Pangbourne and nine miles from Reading, for as long as anyone can remember. In medieval times it was a corn mill and fulling mill; in the 19th century it became a paper mill, which burned down in 1877. Those ruins are still there, overlooked by a Grade II-listed, Georgian mill house, whose oldest parts date from 1800 — and whose youngest elements are barely old enough to shave, as we’ll see.
The house stands in 22½ acres of gardens, meadows and woodland on the banks of the River Kennet, overlooking those atmospheric ruins of the former mill. Beautifully renovated by the current owners, the pristine mill-house complex, an undoubted triumph of design and engineering, is now for sale through the country department of Strutt & Parker at a guide price of £11.5m for the whole.
Strutt & Parker were also the agents back in 1979, funnily enough, before if became the home of an up and coming singer called Kate Bush, who used the place both as her residence, her dance studio, her recording studio and her rehearsal studio.
Shenfield Mill’s 1979 advert in Country Life. Credit: Country Life Picture Library
Having sold his business in Tonbridge, Kent, Mike Taylor, a keen fisherman, realised a lifetime dream of owning a house by a river when, in October 2011, he and his wife, Fran, bought the singer’s mill house and outbuildings between the Kennet and Avon Canal and the River Kennet.
For all the studios and history, however, it was the weir pool, originally installed in the 1700s, that persuaded Mr Taylor to buy, as he stood on the bridge and watched barbel spawning on the gravel below.
Working with engineering consultants Renewables First, the Taylors installed a 10ft-diameter Archimedes screw, which, thanks to the continuous flow of water, generates enough power to cover the energy needs of the entire property, as well as exporting a significant surplus back to the grid.
In installing the hydro, they had to remove an old concrete fish pass, which was replaced by a 1,200ft natural pass that enables fish to travel up and down the river far more easily than before. Consequently, Shenfield Mill is now home to an excellent fishery, with kingfishers flying above the water, kestrels nesting in the garden and otters occasionally feeding in the river.
Free electricity and extra wildlife is very much in the win-win bracket, and it means you can have as many under-unit lights as you want in the kitchen without feeling bad about the carbon footprint.
Elsewhere, the couple invested heavily in reinstating the eroding river banks around the old mill ruins, which enabled water to flow once more through the ruins and the River Kennet to flow more smoothly through the grounds.
The picturesque mill ruins, the brickwork of which has been carefully preserved and restored, create a walled garden alongside the mill leat and a striking 75ft steel-and-tile bridge leads across the water from the house into two acres of semi-formal gardens.
The renovation of the mill house itself was a four-year-long labour of love, which saw the building taken back to its original brick, re-roofed and re-pointed, with windows refurbished throughout.
The exacting work was carried out by conservation specialists Stonewood Builders of Castle Combe, Somerset, who undertook the refurbishment of the main house and housekeeper’s cottage.
They also managed the conversion of the recording studio to guest accommodation.
Elsewhere is an extension incorporating a triple garage, kitchen and utility area joined to the main house by a glazed link; and the pièce de résistance, the addition of a shiny new, 1,200sq ft orangery with a large lantern roof and motorised sliding doors opening onto a stone-tiled seating area with steps leading down to the footbridge.
In all, Shenfield Mill offers more than 7,380sq ft of light-filled accommodation, including the orangery, three reception rooms and a study that appears to be very, very full of thrillers.
There’s also a Smallbone kitchen plus secondary kitchen/breakfast room, utilities, and four bedrooms with bathrooms en suite.
Further accommodation is provided in the two-bedroom cottage and the converted three-bedroom studio.
Shenfield Mill is for sale via Strutt & Parker — see more details and pictures.
An exhibition that brings together the gun that started the First World War, Hemingway’s typewriter, Captain Scott’s snow goggle and Sgt Pepper’s Drum
The gun used to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Hemingway's typewriter and the drum featured on the cover of Sgt Pepper's
The 21st century sword maker: ‘There’s something appealing about getting metal hot and smacking it with a hammer’
Practising ancient techniques to craft modern heirlooms, bladesmith Owen Bush handmakes both decorative and practical knives or weaponry, each with
The nine ladies growing tea in Scotland: ‘We liked the idea of doing something that hadn’t been done before’
A group of Scottish growers is defying the weather to produce Britain’s favourite drink, finds Nick Hammond/
Scottie Dogs: Everything you need to know about the wise, brave and sporting Scottish Terrier
Wise, brave and sporting, Scottie dogs were once one of Britain's most popular breeds — and they're now making a comeback.
