Fifehead Neville, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, DT10

Set in about eight acres of attractive, mature grounds in a shallow valley carrying the River Divelish, The Manor is an historically significant former manor house that can trace its lineage back to the Saxon era. Indeed, it has been the setting for a significant country house for nearly 2,000 years. A substantial, 2nd century Roman villa first stood about 600 yards away closer to the river, which was then replaced by a Saxon manor house where The Manor stands today. The current building dates from the late Tudor period and is built of a mix of local stone and red brick and is partly rendered, sheltering under a Welsh slate roof. The house is Grade II listed and a time capsule of period domestic architecture with examples of late Tudor, early Georgian, Victorian and 1930s interiors. It has an east/west axis with most of the property's six principal reception rooms and six first floor bedrooms looking out across the parkland-like main lawn to unspoilt countryside beyond. Tall, wide sash windows allow in plenty of natural light and the front and west side of the house features a handsome, colonnaded semi-circular front porch and a two storey loggia overlooking the pretty walled garden.

The interior has a wealth of original architectural fittings. These include a brick-lined inglenook and beams in the snug, fine joinery in the elegant drawing room, dining room, snug and library, a wide, timber front staircase to a galleried landing above, parquet and stone flagged floors and many fine fireplaces. On the first floor the principal bedroom and two further large double bedrooms share the family bathroom, whilst the guest bedroom has its own en suite shower room. In addition, the first floor also incorporates a self-contained flat with two bedrooms, a bathroom and a sitting room. In addition to the ground and first floors the house contains a suite of former staff bedrooms in the attics plus three cellars.

Discretely out of sight behind and to one side of the house are The Manor Cottage, a charming, brick-built cottage with two bedrooms and its own garden along with a Georgian stable block with four loose boxes and a double coach house. The stables and coach house are unaltered from when they were built nearly 300 years ago and present a myriad of uses in the future, subject to obtaining the necessary consents. The cottage is currently let under an Assured Shorthold Tenancy. Immediately beside the house and adjacent to the back entrance are a two storey house, log store, larder, coal store and gardener's WC plus a walled pen for a house cow! On the far side of the front drive are two, cleverly concealed garden stores.

The Manor is tucked away behind the village's small Grade II* listed parish church and approached down a gravelled drive that sweeps round past the stables and coach house to a good sized parking area in front of the house. The grounds surround the house providing a very high level of privacy from the handful of other domestic residences in the village. They complement the house perfectly and providing both areas of sheltered garden along with a parkland-like formal garden on one side that incorporates an extensive, level lawn bounded by a ha-ha at the far end and fringed with fine mature trees on two sides. Extending out from the library is a pretty, walled garden paved with Roman stone roof tiles and featuring a Gallic pillar from the villa's bath house. Adjacent to it are a walled orchard and a part-walled former kitchen garden enclosing Victorian vine and tomato houses and a restored Victorian greenhouse. Beyond the former kitchen garden are an enchanting arboretum filled with a wonderful mix of mature, exotic trees and the property's paddock. The latter is enclosed by post and rail fencing and has a stone-built cow byre on one side and a dovecote at its centre.

The Manor is situated on the edge of the tiny village of Fifehead Neville, close to the River Divelish amidst the lush, unspoilt countryside of the Blackmore Vale. The village has a pretty parish church, which is next to the house, and a village hall. For immediate needs the village Hazelbury Bryan has a Spar convenience store, while most day-to-day requirements can be met in the nearby small market town of Sturminster Newton or further afield in the larger towns of Sherborne, Blandford Forum and Dorchester.

For transport links, the A3030 and A357 are within easy reach to the north as is the A352 to the west and there are regular, direct rail services from Castle Cary, a 45-minute drive away, to Paddington taking just 90 minutes. Bournemouth Airport is under an hour's drive away and Exeter, Southampton and Bristol International Airports are all within 90 minutes. The area also offers a wide choice of good schools including Leweston, Milton Abbey, the Sherborne schools, Hanford, Knighton House and Clayesmore, which are all within a 10-mile radius.