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Rectory (Fig 2) at Redmarley D’Abitot, (Fig 5) on the edge of Alfrick village, six miles from Ledbury, at a guide price six miles from Great Malvern and seven Not so quiet on the Western Front of £1.75m. The imposing, eight-bedroom miles from Worcester, is another fine former rectory, with its classic Queen Georgian house, this one with Knight There’s been a flurry of interest in properties in the western counties Anne façade dating from 1713, was Frank (01905 723438) at a guide price offered with a converted two-storey of £1.8m. Approached through a grav- he western counties of Eng- coach house and 21 acres of formal elled courtyard flanked by traditional land are famously known for gardens, orchards and paddocks. redbrick barns, the late-Georgian Court, T being among ‘the quietest ‘There are definitely buyers out there, set in 10 acres of lovely gardens and places under the sun’, but with the but they are extremely fussy and are paddocks, has three main reception upper end of the country-house market usually very specific about the area they rooms, a kitchen/breakfast room, six still firmly stuck in first gear, estate want to buy in. They are prepared to pay bedrooms and three bathrooms. agents in Worcestershire and Hereford- top dollar for a house that is absolutely It comes with a converted three-bed- shire are hoping for a change of pace right, but they won’t look at anything room coach house, a Victorian stable in 2016. Certainly, a recent flutter— they think is overpriced,’ says building with five boxes and a two- if not a flurry—of interesting sales Andrew Leschallas of Andrew Grant bedroom flat, and a barn courtyard in both counties suggests that next Country Homes in Worcester (01905 with two modern stable blocks and year may see the big wagons rolling 734735), whose remit also covers an all-weather manège. again in the West. prime country areas of Herefordshire. Knight Frank are also handling the sale of historic Wichenford Court (Fig 6) on the edge of the Teme Valley, Those familiar Buyers are Fig 4 above: grown; wine drinkers are catered for two miles from the village of Martley with Tolkien will Frome Manor by the nearby Frome Valley Vineyard. and six miles from Worcester, at a guide prepared to pay top at Bishops With several cider companies and price of £2.35m. The gracious, Grade know‘ that The Shire dollar,‘ but they won’t Frome is on the small breweries still operating in and II*-listed William-and-Mary country country well worth looking at,’ com- Fig 1 above: Woodmanton stands close to the Herefordshire/ around Bishops Frome, it’s easy to see house is set in 6.4 acres of well-main- was based on ments Mr Kerton. The Eades village of Clifton-upon-Teme, within look at anything Worcestershire how this dreamy area can claim to be the tained gardens and grounds at the Worcestershire Also under offer, at a guide price at Upton- the sought-after Teme Valley triangle, overpriced border. £1.5m. heart of ‘Merry England’. end of a long private drive. The house of £3.5m through Savills in Cheltenham on-Severn, bounded by Tenbury Wells, Bromyard Fig 5 below left: Frome Manor, listed Grade II, stands has accommodation on three floors, (01242 548000), is Woodmanton Manor Worcestershire, and Worcester. Grade II-listed in some 2.7 acres of gardens, grounds and including four reception rooms, five It’s been quite like old times for Will (Fig 3) at Clifton-upon-Teme, a restored is in the foothills Those familiar with the works of He quotes a guide price of £1.5m for Alfrick Court, orchard, on high ground overlooking the bedroom suites, two further bedrooms Kerton of Knight Frank in Worcester Grade II*-listed manor house with of the Malverns. J. R. R. Tolkien will know that The elegant, Georgian Frome Manor (Fig 4) Alfrick, rolling Herefordshire countryside. Care and two bathrooms. (01905 746883), who went ‘live’ with’ the adjoining traditional buildings, includ- £1.25m Shire of The Lord of the Rings, des- on the edge of the village’ of Bishops Worcestershire. has been taken to retain the Georgian The original Wichenford Court, launch of The Eades (Fig 1) at Upton- ing a hop kiln and 21 loose boxes, cribed as an ‘idyllic and fruitful land Frome in the beautiful Frome Valley, £1.8m. Fig 6 features—large sash windows, polished formerly a moated farmhouse listed upon-Severn, in the foothills of the set within a working 300-acre farm. beloved by its inhabitants’, was based on the Herefordshire/Worcestershire below right: oak floors, open fireplaces and high in Domesday, was home to 10 gene- Malverns, 10 miles from Worcester, on Worcestershire, Tolkien’s mother’s border, eight miles from Ledbury and Wichenford ceilings—that create such a feeling rations of the Washbourne family. at a guide price of £1.25 million home county. Now, Christian Swaab nine miles from Malvern. In 1086, the Court at of space and light throughout the house, Between 1712 and 1720, the then on October 23. After 29 viewings and his Cheltenham colleagues have manor, one of 20 in Herefordshire, was Wichenford, which has 4,500sq ft of living space on owner, Edward Skinner, had the in 10 days, the substantial, early- identified a favourite new ‘shire’ of their held by the Bishop of Hereford and, Worcestershire, three floors, including three fine recep- house remodelled and it was further 19th-century house, set in 15 acres own, which they call ‘Ledburyshire’, although Frome Manor isn’t the original is set in tion rooms, six/seven bedrooms and four improved in the 1970s and by the of gardens, pasture and orchards and where they’re currently seeing ‘some manor house, it is part of a group 6.4 acres. bathrooms. A former oast house, cur- present owners during the past previously owned by the Morgan good sales and plenty of interest’. of fine country houses scattered £2.35m rently home to a swimming pool, a party 10 years. The dovecote—historically family of sports-car fame, went under Starting about 10 to 15 miles south around this thriving village. area and a gym, has planning consent a mark of its owner’s importance— offer on November 11. of Woodmanton, ‘Ledburyshire’ tracks Agriculture has always been the for conversion to further accommodation. is one of the largest of its type in ‘Many of the prospective pur- south of the Malvern Hills to Ledbury, mainstay of life in the Frome Valley and Back on the Worcestershire side of the England and is now owned by the chasers had been looking to buy across to Much Marcle and as far as hops and cider apples are still widely border, Grade II-listed Alfrick Court National Trust. in the Cotswolds, Wiltshire, Dorset Herefordshire’s coarse-fishing lakes. or Somerset, but reckoned that the Key to the popularity of the area, says realistic asking price of The Eades Fig 2 above: The Old Rectory at Redmarley D’Abitot, Mr Swaab, are its proximity to the main represented incredibly good value for Gloucestershire. £1.75m. Fig 3 below: Woodmanton regional road network (M50, M5, A417 money, which made this part of the Manor, Clifton-upon-Teme, Worcestershire. £3.5m and A38) and to useful railway stations at Ledbury, Gloucester, Cheltenham and Worcester; the excellent value for money it offers in terms of property prices, with most homes valued at £200 to £250 per square foot, compared with £1,000 per square foot in popu- lar parts of central London; its wide choice of preparatory and senior schools within easy driving distance; and its glorious countryside. Mr Swaab has just had contracts exchanged on Grade II-listed The Old

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