The most extraordinary house near Glastonbury has come to market with an established fruit farm.
West Bradley House is a Grade II* listed country house, with 77 acres of apple, pear and walnut orchards.
It lies in the parish of West Bradley, near Glastonbury Tor, an area known to many as the ‘home of British cider’.
West Bradley Orchards is a recognised name in Somerset.
In addition to producing and selling cider apples, the farm is one of only three dessert apple producers in the west country. It also grows and sells pears and, interestingly, is one of very few UK producers of walnuts.
The house and farm have been under the ownership of the Clifton-Brown family since 1987 and Edward Clifton-Brown dedicated himself to improving and tending to the orchards with great care and attention.
Alistair Heather, a director for Savills residential sales team in Bath, said: "This is a hugely exciting proposition for someone to become the custodian of not only a wonderful country house and grounds with incredibly pretty views, but the most impressive and beautiful orchards I have seen.
"If you’ve always dreamt of becoming a cider-maker or fruit farmer, this could be the chance to turn that dream into a reality."
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Apples have been grown commercially on the farm for over a century and some of the trees within the traditional cider apple orchards are 80 years old.
The orchards produce in excess of 400 tonnes of apples each year, including 10 varieties of cider apples and 14 dessert apple varieties.
The apples are predominantly sold for cider – with the owners also pressing and selling some of their own – as well as for apple juice and dessert apples.
There is also a plantation of nearly five acres of walnut trees, which is highly unusual in the UK.
Its produce, which encompasses some fifteen walnut varieties, makes it one of the country’s four largest walnut producers.
A central building within the farmland provides the base for a popular ‘pick-your-own’ operation, while a collection of outbuildings are situated to the north of West Bradley House, the largest of which is used for cider production.
West Bradley House sits to the south of the orchards, and is a fine example of a period country house.
It was built in the 1720s by Col. William Piers, a British Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1716 and 1741.
The building, thought to have been completed in 1726, replaced the original manor house that stood before.
The main house has a unique octagonal floorplan with a square base and four diagonal bays, which is unusual for its period.
Its layout is simple and elegant with spacious rooms and impressive views over the grounds, out to the Parish Church and the countryside beyond.
The immediate grounds are notable for its water features, which were created by a Dutch gentleman in the early eighteenth century and include three ponds and a long canal.
"West Bradley Orchards are of an exceptional calibre, tended to with evident attention to detail," said David Cross, a director for Savills farm agency team in Salisbury.
"Offering a wide variety of produce and an array of barns, stores, offices and garages, there is significant scope to grow the business in a number of different ways."
West Bradley House and Orchards are being offered to the market by Savills at a guide price of ‘Offers in excess of £3,250,000’.
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