Huge moated country house in need of renovation goes up for sale for £1.395m

An Elizabethan country house set in almost 20 acres of parkland has come up for sale in Norfolk’s Wensum Valley.

Eastern Daily Press: Elizabethan manor house Weston Hall is on the market 1.395m. Picture: Strutt & Parker Elizabethan manor house Weston Hall is on the market 1.395m. Picture: Strutt & Parker (Image: 2019 Nick England All rights reserved)

Selling agents Strutt & Parker, who are selling the substantial Elizabethan home known as Weston Hall at a guide price of £1,395,000, say it is “generally in need of refurbishment” and would be the perfect opportunity for new owners looking to take on a large-scale renovation project of a significant, Grade II listed country house in Weston Longville.

It was originally built in 1558 by the Rookwood family, whose coat of arms can still be seen above the entrance porch, but has undergone many alterations and additions in the years since, including some in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The property is mentioned in Nikolaus Pevsner’s Buildings of England series, described as being moated in places, with surrounding ponds linking to the River Wensum.

The house is also referred to by Parson James Woodforde in his Diary of Country Parson and is believed to be where he first heard the sound of a sticcardo – a glass xylophone – as it was played by the property’s owner, Mrs Custance.

Within the grounds there is also a pretty octagonal folly, believed to have been built on the site of a medieval dovecote and constructed in the 1820s. Historical records also suggest that in later years it was used as a library and today it still occupies an elevated position overlooking the Wensum Valley.

The house is approached through iron entrance gates and a gravelled drive which passes through the parkland grounds and over a bridge crossing what remains of the moat.

Inside, accommodation extends to approximately 10,829 sq ft, though it does require modernisation. The current layout features a number of formal reception rooms including a drawing room, dining room, sitting room and snug as well as a huge ballroom.

Eight bedrooms can be found on the first and second floors, along with eight bath/shower rooms.

Ample parking is available at the front and south of the house, and it also enjoys a good variety of mature trees in its extensive parkland grounds, which extend to almost 20 acres.

To the east, the moat opens out into a small lake and to the west there is a paved terrace overlooking the formal gardens.

Some demolition work is needed to additions which were not granted in the original listed-building consent.