True Originals

Whether a historic gem or a modern masterpiece, if these one-off properties make your heart beat a little faster, plant your flag and take ownership.

BRERETON PARK

If Lord of the Manor is a title that suits, look no further than this eye-wateringly beautiful Elizabethan manor house in Brereton. The days of droit de seigneur may be long past (to the great relief of milkmaids everywhere) but the new owners of this glorious edifice would certainly earn the right to do a lordly strut, or two.

Brereton Hall dates back to 1586 and was built by Sir William Brereton on land owned by the family since 1175. Their line came to an abrupt end in 1772 when Francis, the fifth Lord, died a bachelor, after the estate had been in family ownership for 600 years. Oops.

The interior is as heart-stirring as the exterior, of course, and has been beautifully preserved. Revel in wood panelling, huge fireplaces and windows, windows everywhere - not to forget any sociable Elizabethan aristocrat’s must have, a minstrels’ gallery.