High Street, Yielden, Bedfordshire, MK44

QUINTESSENTIAL ENGLISH COUNTRY COTTAGE IN SPECIAL SETTING

A wonderful, 18th century, recently re-thatched, 2-bedroom cottage, with delightful garden, driveway parking for 3 cars and an exceedingly rare, protected view of a motte and bailey castle earthworks and surrounding countryside. Within the picturesque Bedfordshire village of Yielden, Castle Cottage is one of a kind.

It’s fascinating to think of the part this small village has played in our Country’s history. This is the village that hosted the American airmen of the 305th ‘Can Do’ Group before their World War II bombing missions over Germany from the Chelveston airbase. Look across from your new home and imagine the ancient Iceni tribe battling the Romans on the site where later the motte and bailey castle became the stronghold of the Trailly family from the Norman invasion to the 13th century. A far cry from the peaceful place of 800 years later.

Today, Yielden, which has umpteen variants of its name, is a delightful place to live away from the madding crowd – a joy to work from home or to come home to. London is very commutable from Bedford, Wellingborough or St Neots railway stations, all within 20-25 minutes by car. Catchment schools are Upper Dean, Riseley and Sharnbrook, between 3 and 7 miles away, and the outstanding private schools at Bedford, Wellingborough and Kimbolton are within easy reach.

A few minutes’ drive from the village is the superb Rushden Lakes Shopping Village, and popular pubs at Melchbourne and Newton Bromswold are a lovely, summer’s evening stroll away. Moreover, Yielden’s friendly community, who also look forward to their annual Strawberry Fayre, get together each month in their pop-up bar within the village hall. What a privilege to own this special little slice of rural England.

MORE ABOUT THE PROPERTY

As if Castle Cottage weren’t pretty enough, with its old clay pantiles and new thatch (Big Betty perched atop) above whitened walls, wonderful wisteria weeps shades of blue, white roses frame the porch, and aubrieta prepares to tumble over the cock and hen wall - while the old well pump tells of how it was once the only source of water.

Today, wallow in your beautiful, roll-top, cast iron, slipper bath, or douse yourself in the wet room shower. Even your dog has its own shower in the boot room, where a bank of bespoke tall wood cupboards provides all the storage you need and contrasts with lovely, granite-topped, painted oak furniture, in the kitchen, both rooms with Belfast sinks and a wonderful, reclaimed, quarry-tiled floor. And you have a super workshop, too.

It's hard to imagine that Castle Cottage, without its extensions, was once two, each with a ladder to an upstairs attic for sleeping, from a downstairs room for everything else. The idea of a porcelain wood-floored dining hall separate from a sitting room (each, perhaps, with electric ‘Optimyst’ stove), not to mention a dressing room, would have been beyond comprehension to the C18th family.

Gorgeous doors open to beautiful, beamed rooms to provide the space you need with the character you’ve yearned for. Achingly romantic bedrooms have the uneven floors and ceilings that you would expect, amazing timbers and remarkable views of castle and countryside, which cannot fail to provide an inspiring start to the day.

Step through the boot room’s stable door into a delightful, Japanese-style garden that will be the source of endless joy as it matures, with significantly more space if you, perhaps, prefer plants to hens. A winding, reclaimed brick path takes you past jasmine, willow, hydrangea, white wisteria and trailing rose, between the lovely, little greenhouse and the timber home of your sustainable, biomass boiler, to the raised decking designed to take advantage of the wonderful view beyond the quiet country lane.

Water flows over monoliths and along the narrow rill as you eat al fresco beneath the canopied pergola or, perhaps, relax with glass of wine in a hot tub – the perfect place for entertaining friends, surrounded by the scents, sounds and special sights that lift the spirit. A lovingly looked-after cottage home in a wonderful environment.