Looking to move to the ultimate country house in the Garden of England? Robert Jacobs of Savills in Tunbridge Wells quotes a guide price of £3.5m for charming, Grade II*-listed Fordcombe Manor near the village of Fordcombe in the High Weald AONB, five miles from Tunbridge Wells and close to three quaint Wealden villages, Ashurst, Speldhurst and Penshurst — the suffix ‘hurst’ means a hillock or wooded rise.
The manor, previously known as Springhill due to the special quality of the nearby spring, stands on rising ground and is a familiar landmark for drivers travelling along the winding lanes between Sevenoaks and ‘the Wells’.
Described by Historic England as ‘a restored 16th-century timber-frame structure with an early-17th-century gabled wing to the right-hand side’, the main house and its two barns — one thatched and used for stabling, garaging and storage, the other equipped as a pool house/party barn — are listed together as a picturesque group.
Meticulously renovated and upgraded by the current owners, who acquired it in 2018, Fordcombe Manor stands in nine acres of formal garden, meadow, paddocks and a small orchard; sporting amenities include a football lawn, a swimming pool and a tennis court.
The striking main house offers 6,288sq ft of living space on three floors, including four principal reception rooms, a study, a well-equipped Tom Howley painted kitchen and breakfast room and a cellar/games room, with a further cellar used as an office/workroom.
There are two ensuite bedrooms, two further bedrooms, a family bathroom and a playroom on the first floor, with a further bedroom suite on the top floor.
Further accommodation is available in a separate, three-bedroom cottage.
Fordcombe Manor is listed with Savills for £3.5m
Credit: Strutt and Parker
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