Church Street, Shillington, Bedfordshire, SG5

EXCITING, HIGHLY COMMUTABLE, HOUSE AND GARDENS IN THE COUNTRY - READY FOR A MAKEOVER TO CREATE AN EXCEPTIONAL FAMILY HOME

A remarkable, 4-bedroom, detached house, with scope for an annexe, gorgeous gardens, garage and driveway parking, which has been, for half-a-century, the much-loved home of the same family, while having become somewhat frozen in time. On the edge of the Chiltern Hills in the conservation area of the peaceful village of Shillington, which is well blessed with amenities as well as being close to Hitchin railway station, The Hedges is looking forward to being refurbished, possibly extended and becoming a special and valuable family home.

Only 7 miles from Hitchin Railway Station, from where fast trains reach London in under half-an-hour, just a 12-mile bus journey from Luton Airport and within easy reach of major A-roads and motorways, Shillington cannot be classed as ‘out in the sticks’. Yet a quick glance at a map suggests that road and rail networks have been designed to leave the village in perfect peace, without the traffic noise that affects others.

Shillington families also have super schools on their doorstep. Walk the children to their lovely, little Pre and Lower schools, recently rated ‘Good’ in all areas by Ofsted, with older children able to cycle or catch a bus to their outstanding Secondary Academy a couple of miles along the country lanes in Upper Gravenhurst.

A farm shop in Lower Gravenhurst is less than a-mile-and-a-half away. Shillington has its own village stores and post office, and not one but two country pubs, each offering something different, as well as a popular sports and social club at the playing fields, a few hundred yards from your front door. The friendly community run all kinds of events and societies.

And you can wander 500 feet up the historic street to Sunday service at the Church of All Saints, a centre of worship for a thousand years and named by John Betjeman the ‘Cathedral of the Chilterns.’. Pause with your dog alongside this Grade I-listed ironstone gem atop the chalk hill and marvel at the setting. Gaze out to the Chilterns and the Icknield Way, one of the oldest tracks in Britain, and look forward to miles of beautiful walks and cycle rides. How fortunate to live here.

MORE ABOUT THE PROPERTY 

Bird-filled beech hedging screens the house from the lane and, along with the surname of the doctor who once lived here, gave your new home its name. A beautiful, Oakleaf Hydrangea blossoms in the drive near an attractive, pantiled and weatherboarded garage that has scope for other uses.

Pause a moment to appreciate how beautifully The Hedges was designed in the ‘50s to add each wing to the footprint of the two, possibly 17th century, thatched cottages that once stood in the middle. The old clay-tiled roofs above roughcast rendered walls surrounding the stone-arched recessed doorway, and the liberal use of oak for doors, floors and staircase, suggests the Arts and Crafts influence of such renowned architects as Baillie-Scott.

Step through one door into Dr Hedges’ waiting room, which has also been a study, and you can imagine sitting there before being summonsed into his surgery, where his fitted cupboards are still in place, before waiting at the hatch for your prescription from a dispensary complete with Belfast sink for scrubbing up in days of old. A self-contained annexe, perhaps? The Hedges is full of versatile space – and eminently extendable at the back, too.

You’ll probably wish to make changes - to the kitchen and bathroom, for instance - but there’s no escaping the charm of the house – and its irresistible, central sitting room where the cottages were, their wonderful timber frames still in place, two high windows where the eyebrows once peered out from the old thatch. Imagine cosy winter evenings, logs ablaze in the gorgeous fireplace, with its stone surround and inherent warmth of the wonderful old bricks.

The beautiful oak floor of the dining room and hall continues along the corridor, where French doors open to a hexagonal terrace with a captivating wildlife pond and fountain as a centrepiece, damselflies flitting around the yellow water irises and buttercups.

The gardens conform to no rules but are no less delightful for that. Magnificent trees, including a striking Cedar and a Black Walnut grown from seed originating in Edith Holden’s Olton Garden, watch over secret hiding places. Apple, pear and plum trees, pretty Weigela bushes and roses, beds of ferns and wildflowers, and even an amazing, flowering palm, all come together in a haven for nature, for children, and for the whole family. A once in a lifetime opportunity.