Property market

Described by the local conservation body as ‘a glorious 15th-century two-bay Wealden house with two, two-storey Oriel windows’, it appears that Headcorn Manor was never the manor house, but was probably built either as a parsonage or as a family home by a wealthy merchant. It stands next to the Grade I-listed, 14th-century church of St Peter and St Paul, in an area of quiet lanes, green spaces and well-established trees that still has the feel of a country hamlet, in stark contrast to the busy, bustling high street nearby.

The house, which dates from about 1470 and is worthy of mention by Pevsner, offers more than 3,000 sq ft of accommodation of immense charm and character with fine oak timbers and beams, mullioned windows with leaded-light panes and splendid fireplaces. The present owners have also installed a bespoke fitted kitchen and updated most of the bath and shower rooms. Of particular note are the welcoming reception hall/sitting room and the splendid first-floor drawing room, which features a crown post, mellow oak floorboards and vistas to the west over the formal gardens and the church. Four double bedrooms on the first and second floors are served by two bathrooms and a luxurious shower room with underfloor heating.

Approached along an unmade road, Headcorn Manor sits in some 4¾ acres of landscaped gardens and grounds. Wrought-iron gates open onto a west-facing terrace that spans the length of the house. From here, formal lawns with manicured yew hedging are divided by a rill edged with lavender that runs the full length of the garden. Completing the rural idyll is a kitchen garden with fruit cages, a greenhouse and an orchard planted with apple, plum, pear and cobnuts, a pretty brick-built former piggery swathed in roses and honeysuckle, and two fields, the most southerly of which enjoys access to a small area of woodland, bounded by the River Beult. former miller’s house and the ancient mill building, now a single, six-bedroom family home, with the mill race and wheel forming a distinctive feature of the building. Worten Mill Cottage is a detached three-bedroom cottage with its own private garden.

Further east in the same county, water and woodland dominate the setting of picturesque Worten Mill at Great Chart, four miles from Ashford International station and 15 miles from Canterbury, which has come to the market through Strutt & Parker (01227 473707) with a guide price of £2.25m.

Situated in a magical rural location just outside the popular village of Great Chart, Worten Mill, listed Grade II, is thought to stand on the site of one of the first recorded watermills in Britain and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. The property comprises the 18th-century

For the past 14 years, Worten Mill has been a much-loved holiday home shared by several Belgian families, who bought it lock, stock and barrel from the late Victor Ross, the legendary former chairman of Reader’s Digest, who restored the entire property and lived there for 40 years, selling agent Simon Backhouse reveals. A wide, panelled oak door opens into the reception hall that has windows at floor level overlooking the mill pond, with stairs from the hall leading up to an impressive fitted library with an adjoining study. The part full-height drawing room has an unusual demi-lune window overlooking the mill pond and wide steps leading down to the main reception space, where ancient timbers create a cathedrallike atmosphere. The adjoining dining room has a wide inglenook fireplace; the morning room overlooks the pond to the rear.

Sitting astride the River Stour, which meanders through the grounds of more than four acres, the gardens, originally designed by Russell Page, are a delight. The front garden is informally laid out with a number of paths and bridges criss-crossing the river. To the rear, the garden is dominated by the mill pond, with further pathways and walks creating an ambience of peace and enchantment.