Ian Marriott of Savills in Nottingham is handling the sale of historic, Grade II*-listed Cranfield House in the minster town of Southwell, a landmark building the Queen Anne design of which was described by Pevsner as ‘the best design of all the Prebendal houses of Southwell… remarkably fashionable for the early 18th century’. Built in 1709 of brick with stone dressings and a hipped slate roof for canon George Mompesson, the house closely resembles nearby Mompesson House, which was built by another member of the family.
Now for sale at a guide price of £2.25m, Cranfield House boasts a wealth of period detail throughout, including its original grand staircase, wood panelling and fireplaces.
It offers manageable accommodation on three floors, with three reception rooms, a large breakfast room/kitchen and a range of additional rooms on the ground floor; a spacious master-bedroom suite and two further bedrooms on the first floor; and a further three bedrooms and a fully fitted bathroom on the second floor.
Cranfield House was originally known as Oxton One, the grandest of nine remaining large houses built over time for the Prebenderies, or canons, of Southwell Minster, whose income derived from the revenues of local parishes, known as prebends.
When the Chapter of Southwell Minster was dissolved in 1841, it was decided that the prebend system should also be wound up. Thereafter, as each canon died, his house was sold and his prebend became extinct. The Chapter finally came to its appointed end on February 12, 1873, with the death of the Revd Thomas Henry Shepherd, rector of Clayworth and prebendary of Beckingham.
Acquired in 2006 by a local businessman who is now looking to downsize, Cranfield House stands in the centre of its 1¾ acres of grounds and offers exceptional convenience combined with a high level of privacy, thanks to its high walled and gated entrance, private walled garden and landscaped gardens planted with a variety of splendid mature trees, including stands of beech trees and silver birch, with a line of mature lime trees to the eastern boundary.
The original coach house, a substantial building housing garaging and loose boxes, is thought to have scope for a range of alternative uses, subject to planning.
Cranfield House is for sale via Savills — see more details and pictures.
Credit: Strutt and Parker
Best country houses for sale this week
An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for
Credit: Strutt & Parker
Best country houses to rent across Britain
Renting doesn't have to mean compromising on space, style or history.
-
A beautiful old farmhouse in 15 acres of breathtaking Scottish scenery, for sale at just £825,000A wonderful country home with almost 15 acres of land has come up for sale at a price which will make urban dwellers question their life choices.
-
Remember, remember to take the Country Life Quiz of the Day, November 5, 2025It's a banger.
-
A beautiful old farmhouse in 15 acres of breathtaking Scottish scenery, for sale at just £825,000
A wonderful country home with almost 15 acres of land has come up for sale at a price which will make urban dwellers question their life choices.
-
A country house that was the set for one of the best-loved sitcoms of the 1980s is for sale, with 40,000sq ft of space, 39 bedrooms and almost endless potentialLynford Hall, a vast neo-Jacobean house that's been everything from a country hotel to an agricultural college, has come to the market. Toby Keel tells its story.
-
A sprawling castle set amid ancient woodland has come to the market for the first time in 150 yearsGyrn Castle, set amidst woodland on the outskirts of an ancient village, is now seeking new owners. Penny Churchill reports.
-
A Tudor Revival home built by a Victorian adventurer, with beauty, grandeur and its own putting greenFulford Hall is an idyllic country home, yet is situated less than a dozen miles from Birmingham. Penny Churchill tells more.
-
Five glorious properties for sale from the 11th to the 21st centuryA tithe barn, a Grade I-listed Norman keep, and a Georgian masterpiece all graced the pages of Country Life this week
-
You can now rent King William IV’s former home in London’s Mayfair — for a princely sumThe London property — with royal lineage — is on the market with the estate agency Wetherell for £25,000 a week.
-
Dream of revolution inside the 18th-century villa once occupied by Napoleon's French troopsAn apartment inside historic Villa Gnecchi Ruscone is on the market and it comes with a grand ballroom rumoured to have been frequented by Napoleon.
-
May the force be with you if you move into this London apartment block that Obi-Wan Kenobi (and Cher) once lived inOliver’s Wharf was once the residence of megastar Cher and the actor Sir Alec Guinness — as well as Mark Knopfler of the Dire Straits.
