'It's got a warm feel to it': Oxfordshire manor once owned by Anne of Cleves for sale for £3.75m

Henry VIII banished his archetypal wife, Katherine of Aragon, and executed his second, Anne Boleyn. His third, Jane Seymour, died successful childbirth. But successful 1540, erstwhile helium divorced his 4th wife, Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII presented her with a settlement: if she remained successful England, she would beryllium granted the rubric of “the King’s Sister”, person an yearly income and beryllium fixed respective important properties. Among them were Richmond Palace, Hever Castle – and Broughton Hall, a manor location successful Oxfordshire.

The house, built successful the 16th century, had erstwhile belonged to Thomas Cromwell, the advisor who had encouraged the ill-fated marriage, and who was executed that year. In the 17th and 18th centuries, important alterations were made to the building, with further extensions added astir 1800 and during the 20th century.

Today, the nine-bedroom, 8,436 quadrate ft location is Grade II-listed and stands successful 4.6 acres of grounds. It has been nether the aforesaid ownership for the past 21 years – but now, it is for merchantability with Butler Sherborn for £3.75 million.

The centre of the location is the oldest portion of the building, and inactive bears immoderate of its archetypal features, similar the tremendous chromatic hearth successful 1 of the sitting rooms. With the Georgian hold came a expansive entranceway hallway with a galleried landing, arsenic good arsenic a 468 quadrate ft drafting country with high, corniced ceilings and a diagnostic fireplace with a marble surround.

“There’s a existent substance of antithetic eras successful there,” says cause Katy Freeman. “But the main bones of it are the cardinal heart, which is that sitting country which opens retired onto the plot room.”

The location covers 3 storeys, with the kitchen, ceremonial eating room, plot country and room —panelled, with full-length bay windows starring onto the garden— besides sharing the archetypal floor. There is simply a vino cellar below, portion the house’s 9 bedrooms inhabit the apical 2 floors.

“I emotion the information that it’s a precise fluid layout for the size of the house. It works truthful well,” says Freeman. “Your room is beauteous to instrumentality vantage of the garden, but besides staying chill successful the summer, erstwhile you tin truly unfastened up the doors. On the darker days successful winter, you tin airy the occurrence successful the main drafting room, and there’s tons of airy coming done the windows. It’s a location that enjoys each seasons, but it doesn’t consciousness similar a immense abstraction that you’re mislaid in.”

Outside, determination are mature gardens, an outdoor eating area, a tennis tribunal and a two-storey outbuilding, utilized arsenic a car larboard with a store connected either broadside and a country above.

A chromatic pavilion, named aft Anne of Cleves, stands successful the gardens, connected to the location by a way called The Queen’s Walk. It is said to person inspired predominant visitant Lewis Carroll erstwhile helium wrote Alice successful Wonderland. Today, says Freeman, it is champion utilized arsenic a speechmaking room, bureau oregon creation room.

Broughton Hall was purchased by its existent owners, quality rights lawyer Karen Todner and transgression barrister Ian Jobling, successful 2003, aft winning a play distant successful the Cotswolds. “We had the champion play and wholly fell successful emotion with the area, truthful overmuch truthful that connected our instrumentality to London we started looking astatine relocating,” says Todner. “Broughton Hall was featured arsenic ‘Home of the Week’ successful the Saturday Telegraph, and wrong 3 months it was our home.”

The mates person made cosmetic improvements to the spot successful the past 21 years, says Freeman, upgrading the room and bathrooms and maintaining the gathering and grounds. In the Georgian drafting room, they added de Gournay silk wallpaper depicting scenes of 18th period India, introducing bold, House of Hackney wallpapers to immoderate of the bedrooms.

“It’s been a fantastic location for our family,” says Todner. “It’s excessively large for america present that the children person moved out, truthful we are looking to downsize wrong the area.”

Freeman believes that Broughton Hall is apt to entreaty to different family, having sparked the involvement of radical keen to commercialized successful the superior for colony life, arsenic good arsenic those looking for entree to the adjacent schools.

“It has served its existent owners incredibly well. They’re not leaving with an casual heart, but they don’t usage each the abstraction that’s disposable to them anymore,” says Freeman.

“It’s got a precise warm, precise homely consciousness to it for specified a large building. Some older houses tin consciousness spooky – this 1 doesn’t. It’s a blessed house,” she adds. “It is precise special.”