THE debate over which house is the oldest in England is one that has exercised the minds of successive generations of COUNTRY LIFE readers. In 1931, Knight Frank's Arthur J. Burrows described Luddesdown Court near Gravesend, Kenta 12th-century house reputedly lived in by William the Conqueror's half-brother, Odo, who was Earl of Kent-as 'the oldest court lodge in Kent' and 'presumably one of the most ancient continuously inhabited domestic buildings in the kingdom'. It was a claim repeated when Luddesdown Court was last sold by Knight Frank a couple of years ago.
Nowadays, buyers searching for their 'forever house' probably don't need a 1,000-year-old building, although Kent is still a good place to look for a historic family house of character and charm. One that springs to mind is handsome Galleys Wood in Honeypot Lane, Edenbridge, an imposing Victorian/ Edwardian house set in 12 acres of gardens, grounds and woodland on the Kent-Surrey border, two miles from Edenbridge town centre and a 10-minute drive from Waitrose.
Currently for sale through the Oxted office of Jackson-Stops (01883 712375) at a guide price of $3.25 million, Galleys Wood was once home to the Prestwich family of JAP motorcycle engine fame. The current owners, who were married at the house 25 years ago, recall the previous owner saying that she used to skate around the cellar, which they have converted into a cinema and bar, a large games room and a home-office area with an adjoining kitchen, wine cellar, store room and boiler room.
Denne historien er fra March 08, 2023-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra March 08, 2023-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Save our family farms
IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.
A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
It's always darkest before the dawn
After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
On a visit to the Gainsborough Museum in Sudbury, Suffolk, in August, I lost my husband for half an hour and began to get nervous. Fortunately, an attendant had spotted him vanishing under the cloak of the old mulberry tree in the garden.
