Country houses for sale

A Georgian gem on the fringes of the Salisbury Plain that is on the market for the first time in nearly 80 years

Forming just one of 17 houses within the village of Fittleton, Fittleton House is an elegant home where good taste and fine architecture meet.

Red-bricked, sashed-windowed and pleasingly symmetrical, Fittleton House is, from the outside, everything good about Georgian architecture.

The seven-bed former rectory is just as lovely internally, too, where tall ceilings, well-proportioned rooms and a number of open fires and wood burners join together to create a classic, tasteful home.

Believed to date from 1742, with an early 19th century wing located in the south, Fittleton House arrives on the market — for the first time in nearly 80 years — via Savills with a guide price of £2.5 million.

Neighbouring the village’s 13th century church, the initials ‘R.M.J 1742’ are inscribed on a first floor window key and are thought to reference Robert Merchant, who was the Rector from 1731-1773 as well as President of Magdalen College in Oxford.

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Now 279 years later, the Grade II listed house is a testament to the time in which it was built, with ‘graciously proportioned’ rooms. Of particular note is the large wine cellar and elegant drawing room, with its floor-to-ceiling 15-paned windows which overlook the spectacular walled garden outside.

The agents note that the garden is ‘an absolute haven of tranquillity’, formed of lawn, herbaceous borders and a secluded stone terrace to the south. The wider grounds are where you’ll find a vegetable garden, fruit cages, a greenhouse and an area of woodland and orchard that runs down to a small winterbourne.

The 300 square miles of chalk plateau that span across Wiltshire and in parts of Hampshire is home to perhaps the most recognisable, mysterious and famous prehistoric monument: Stonehenge. The village of Fittleton lies on the outer borders of the Salisbury Plain — just under nine miles north of Stonehenge — within a Conservation Area, and is home to just 17 houses and a quaint 13th century church.

Day-to-day amenities can be found in the neighbouring village of Netheravon, with its primary school, pub, village shop, post office, garage and brewery. Amesbury is just five miles south of the village and the Cathedral city of Salisbury is 13.5 miles directly to the south with its wide range of shops, restaurants and recreational facilities.

Netheravon All Saints C of E Primary School is the local primary, but there are plenty of other options — both state and private — including Dauntsey’s School, Marlborough College, Warminster School and Salisbury Cathedral School.

Transport links are fantastic, with trains running from Pewsey to London Paddington in approximately 60 minutes and the A303 just a few miles down the road, linking to the southwest and the M3.

The area is known for its excellent fishing on the River Avon (closed over the winter months); golfing at Tidworth, Upavon and High Post; and racing at Salisbury Racecourse and Wincanton.

Littleton House is currently on the market via Savills with a guide price of £2.5 million — see more pictures or enquire with the agent for further details.