NEWBURY W ith its farmhouse kitchen, far-reaching views and almost eight acres of garden and meadows, Broad Mead Farm in the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is the ultimate in commutable farmhouses. The fact that it is newly built with a ground source heat pump makes it even more desirable, according to Liz McLean from Savills in Newbury (savills.co.uk). ‘You can be in London within an hour yet this is stunning countryside with endless scope for walking and riding nearby,’ she says. ‘Increasingly our London buyers are looking for country houses that are easy to run, with a low carbon footprint.’ The area around Newbury has always been popular with commuters, yet thanks to Crossrail its star is rising ever higher, according to buying agent Ben Horne of Middleton Advisors (middletonadvisors.com). Since the start of lockdown he’s received numerous requests for family houses in the area – and interest is just as strong now many are returning to the office. ‘Newbury to Reading is 15 minutes, and from Reading you can be in London in 35 minutes on the Elizabeth Line,’ he says. Houses such as Broad Mead Farm, which is on the market for £4 million with Savills, suit a new generation of environmentally conscious London leavers who don’t have the time or inclination to take on their own renovation project. Two Cocks Farm, an architect-designed eco farmhouse near Newbury, sparked the trend when it featured on Channel 4’s Grand Designs in 2013; according to Horne, modern houses such as this will only become more popular as the government penalises poor energy performance. For Andy and Melissa Shields, who during lockdown bought
a plot that was already being developed into a five-bedroom eco house near Kingsclere, the Newbury area offers everything they didn’t have in London: wide open spaces, charming country pubs, friendly local sports clubs and a house large enough for three children and two dogs. Their house was completed early this year; the pool, stables and tennis court will be finished by the end of the summer. ‘We worried that the house wouldn’t have the personality of an older property but it’s already got its own character – and everything works,’ Melissa says. Their children are happily installed in a nearby prep school and Andy commutes into the City four days a week. ‘Honestly, I think we spent more time on roads and trains when we lived in London,’ Melissa continues. ‘It’s wonderfully convenient around here, and Newbury itself is very useful.’ Far from being a sleepy commuter town, Newbury is an employment centre in its own right; Vodafone, Stryker and the Swift Group all have head offices there. Meanwhile the town’s shopping and restaurants have gentrified over the past few years, as has Newbury Racecourse, which hosts the Hennessy Gold Cup in November. ‘Newbury is a vibrant market town surrounded by beautiful countryside with highly rated schools, a variety of great shops and restaurants, and a local cultural scene – the Watermill theatre is much-loved by families,’ says Liz. For London leavers, however, it is the quintessentially English villages that surround Newbury that make it so desirable: Hungerford, Kintbury, Thatcham, Bedwyn and Shalbourne have charming pubs, period houses and close-knit communities. Education is also a major draw: there are a large number of
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PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES; © VISIT NEWBURY
Anna Tyzack heads to Berkshire to find eco-homes within easy reach of London
