Somerset, £690,000
You can see the sea from the trellised verandahs of this romantic Swiss-style villa, near Weston-super-Mare, designed by a leading Victorian architect. With five bedrooms, The Chalet is built into the hillside, facing south over the bay. Its 1888 interior, including carved doorways, stained glass and strapwork ceilings, has earned it a Grade II listing. A pathway behind the house ascends into 320-acre Weston Wood. Robin King (01934 876 226)
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Shropshire, £1.1 million
To reach secluded Great Hagley, one must drive through Hopton Wood, part of the Forestry Commission, then down an avenue of ash trees. The estate attached to this four-bedroom house in Hopton Castle, near Ludlow, comprises 120 acres, 80 of which are woodland. That said, the house is 1,200ft above sea level and enjoys lovely views. The range of outbuildings includes stables, a kennel, a dovecote and two modern agricultural barns. Strutt & Parker (01584 873 711)
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Essex, £1.75 million
In the 17th century, The Old Rodney, in wooded grounds that adjoin the Heather Hills nature reserve, was an ale-house named The Cock and Warren—it was converted to a private house in 1948. In the village of Little Baddow, close to Maldon and The Warren golf club, it has four bedrooms plus a two-bedroom annexe, formal gardens, pool, paddock and just over eight acres. Zoe Napier (01621 840 333)
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Co Durham, £610,000
Close to the 11-mile-long Derwent Walk Country Park—which follows the route of a disused railway track through a mixture of ancient wood- land, riverside meadows and wetland—pretty, flat-fronted Derwent Dene House is a renovated four-bedroom farmhouse, close to Ebchester, with elevated rural views. Sanderson Young (0191–213 0033)
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Somerset, £1.45 million
The royal hunting forests of Exmoor are yours to explore at Ellicombe Manor, a Grade II-listed, 16th-century manor house on a quiet country lane outside the famous village of Dunster. Extended in the Georgian era, the six-bedroom property has a courtyard, pool, paddock and summer house, as well as four fully furnished cottages for letting. Jackson-Stops & Staff (01823 325 144)
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Gwynedd, £1 million
Built on the ancient settlement of a Welsh chieftain, the gardens lead down to the riverside and bluebell woods, with grounds extending to about 9½ acres. Near Shrewsbury, the Grade II-listed Georgian house has wonderful views of the Snowdonia National Park, nine bedrooms, an attached cottage and traditional cobbled stableyard. Strutt & Parker (01743 284 200)
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A well-connected rural playground with 23 acres on the edge of the South Downs National ParkOld House Farm is an impressive family home with a wealth of amenities that would inspire any rural passion.
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The UK gets its first ‘European stork village’ — and it's in West SussexAlthough the mortality rate among white storks can be up to 90%, the future looks rosy for breeding pairs in southern England.
