Marvel at the views from this picturesque country manor
Morley Old Hall, Norfolk
Strutt & Parker Guide price: £2.5m
Secluded in 32 acres of Norfolk countryside, this renovated Grade I listed Elizabethan hall greets visitors at the end of a long, tree-lined drive.
Stretching over three floors, the hall has an impressive seven bedrooms, six bathrooms, fireplace-accented dining room, and a generous kitchen and breakfast room, perfect for families or other gatherings. On the second floor, the house has a large game room, ready for any activity.
It was last purchased in 2012, as part of a portfolio of country retreats. As a result, upgrades to the house included re-landscaping the gardens, a new central heating system, significant rewiring, upgraded plumbing and two new bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms on the ground floor.
Luckily, period features like fireplaces, exposed beams and timberwork, and a single-piece wide oak staircase, are still in place. The main house actually sits on a half-acre garden island, maintaining its Anglo Saxon roots with a moat. The red sand-faced brick house is in the traditional Elizabethan E-plan and arranged over three storeys, while façades face east and west. The view is open for miles.
Aside from the manor house, Morley has three individual brick and timber cottages, each with the same red-tiled roof. The structures are all single-storey, making them ideal for letting, guest or staff accommodation should it be used for commercial purposes. West (the biggest), Middle and East Cottages have quick access to private gardens and a mixed orchard. They sit beside a traditional timber-cladding barn, one of two, ready for stabling animals. Amid the trees, Morley even has a pond to complete this picturesque property.
Morley Old Hall is mentioned in Pam Boys’ Beautiful Homes of Britain, Sir Nikolaus Pevsner’s Buildings of England and Burke’s Guide to Country Houses. Built by the Sedley Family, who owned the manor from 1545 until about 1790, it has since been owned by Field Marshal Lord Ironside, as well as by Janet Shand Kydd, first wife of Peter Shand Kydd, stepfather of Princess Diana.
Morley is twelve miles from the City of Norwich, with Attleborough and Wymondham being the closest market towns. Trains to Liverpool Street can be taken from Diss.