Property market
THE fertile Vale of Taunton Deane, bounded by west Somerset’s three hill ranges—the Brendons in the west, Quantocks in the east and Blackdowns in the south—is an area of rich soil and plentiful water, described in 1609 by cartographer and antiquary John Norden as ‘the great paradise of England’. According to the Victoria County History, the manor of Taunton Deane provided ‘a princely income’ for its powerful manorial landowners, among them the bishops of Winchester, who owned it from the 10th century and built the great castle at Taunton.
The parish of Fivehead, nine miles east of Taunton, lies on a ridge of reclaimed land that stretches from the small town of Langport to the Blackdown Hills, and overlooks Sedgemoor, part of the Somerset Levels and the Vale of the Isles. Fresh to the market through Strutt & Parker comes Grade II*-listed Langford Manor at Fivehead, an impeccably restored Elizabethan manor house built around a 15th-century core and set in 7½ acres of immaculate gardens and grounds with views over open countryside. Selling agent Oliver Custance Baker (01392 229405) quotes a guide price of £5 million.
According to its Historic England listing, there has been a house on the site since at least the 13th century. The present house is built on a double E-plan with a central 15thcentury, east-west range; it was enlarged and remodelled in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, substantially restored in 1905 and again in the 20th and 21st centuries. In 1518, the manor was left to the Dean and Canons of Exeter Cathedral, who owned it until about 1860, during which time it was mainly occupied by tenant farmers.
This story is from the June 08, 2022 edition of Country Life UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the June 08, 2022 edition of Country Life UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Too divine
Four actresses earn the plaudits this month, for parts ranging from Sarah Siddons to Charlotte Bronté
Stashed away
The vast collection of the late George Withers, encompassing everything from Prattware pot lids to barometers, doubles up as a guide to the mid-market collecting fancies of the past 60 years
Parsley of Macedon
Not quite a native, alexanders can taste like joss stick-tainted celery or sweetly spiced parsnips, depending on your method, warns John Wright
A hungry heart
A man who strove, sought and found, Wassily Kandinsky pioneered not one, but two artistic movements against the tumultuous backdrop of early-20thcentury Europe, as Holly Black relates
Royal favours
AFTER much speculation as to what might be the favourite flower Her of Elizabeth II, the truth was revealed at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2019.
Smart thinking
A private family garden near Godalming in Surrey How does a garden design begin? With a lot of questions and by finding a central theme says James Alexander-Sinclair
Escape to the hills
These four houses in the county of Surrey can offer the best of both worlds: rural settings and easy access to London
A little help from your friends
Driven to distraction by paint charts? A colour consultant could be the answer for anyone befuddled by choosing the right hue
A (crab) apple a day
They may be too tart to eat, but crab apples can be made into all sorts of good things, from jellies to salves, and may even have been Adam and Eve's forbidden fruit, says Ian Morton
The sound of centuries past
The past 50 years have seen an energetic revival of the instruments that would have been played in Bach's day. Henrietta Bredin meets players fascinated by the noises Baroque composers would have heard