A literary connection adds to the charm of The Archway, near Newstead, in Nottinghamshire. The Grade II-listed period cottage, which is for sale through Gascoines for offers in excess of £450,000, sits in the grounds of 12th-century Newstead Abbey, Byron’s former home.
As the name implies, The Archway comprises the front arch and tower of the cluster of buildings at the front of the Abbey complex. The tower, in particular, enjoys magnificent views across Newstead Abbey, Upper Lake and the grounds.
The interiors, which span 1,030sq ft, combine original features, such as stone windows, with modern touches that make it an ideal home. The ground floor houses the living room, with its feature fireplace and the window overlooking Newstead Abbey, and the kitchen and dining room, which has granite worktops and flagstone flooring. Upstairs are three bedrooms — the master suite, which has its own dressing room, takes up the entire first floor.
Byron was perhaps the most famous but not the only interesting characters to live on The Archway’s doorstep. He shares the honour with his great-uncle William, nicknamed The Wicked Lord, to whom all sorts of misdeeds were attributed, from worshipping the devil to training crickets to race on his own body. None of this was true, but The Wicked Lord did kill his cousin, William Chaworth, in a duel —the result of a bizarre dispute over which of the two grandees had the greater amount of game on their estate.
The Newstead Abbey estate belongs to Nottingham City Council and there’s no service charge associated with living in the Abbey grounds.
The Archway is for for sale via Gascoines for offers in excess of £450,000 — see more pictures or enquire with the agent for further details.
Newstead: What you need to know
- Location:Newstead is about five minutes by train from Hucknall and 20 minutes from Nottingham
- Atmosphere:A former coal-mining village, Newstead is part of Nottinghamshire's scenic Hidden Valleys.It has a shop, a post-office, a pub, a pavilion and sports field and a mobile library. The active community runs plenty of local clubs, from woodcarving to tai-chi
- Things to do: The Abbey, with Byron's private apartments, and the gardens and park are an attraction in their own right, but there is also the colliery heritage to explore in Hucknall and, at Papplewick, Britain's most spectacular working Victorian pumping station
- Schools: the local Abbey Gates Primary School is rated outstanding by Ofsted.
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