Weston Road, Bletchingdon

With gardens landscaped by its award-winning horticulturalist owner, a lovely village cottage dating to the 18th century. Highly flexible layout inc c.30 ft living room, separate dining room, downstairs & upstairs bathrooms, garden room, garage, sat in a quiet village near Oxford/Bicester. NO CHAIN

Bletchingdon is a well regarded North Oxfordshire village, set on a plateau overlooking Oxford and Kidlington. Its roots date back to Norman times, as evidenced by St Giles parish church. The village strikes that rare balance between local amenities, a good community, lovely countryside and also easy commuting. A recently built school and village hall are both well used by the community. The hall hosts a café plus a range of clubs and classes, and there's also a village grocery store. There is an active sports and social club, with an adjacent childrens' play area. Access is excellent with Oxford and Bicester within easy driving distance. The village is also less than 10 minutes drive from the Oxford Parkway rail station, offering trains to London Marylebone. In addition, Islip, Bicester and Oxford stations are also close by. And for those working from home, the broadband provided by Gigaclear in this area is one of the fastest services in the UK.

We rarely write about an owner in our descriptions, but Sue Bedwell is an exception. She was a horticulturist who learnt her craft under Beatrix Havergal at Waterperry in the early '70s. Sue very proudly shared her garden through the National Garden Scheme each year, as well as hosting numerous tours for other organisations. She spoke at garden societies far and wide, as well as being a member of several societies herself. Irises and snowdrops were a particular passion, with over 200 varieties of snowdrops in the garden at one point (many remain). It won't take any viewer very long to appreciate the wonderful legacy she leaves behind

So, what is Monk's Head? In the briefest of terms, a thoroughly charming and really quite spacious cottage dating in part to the early 18th century. The Grade 2 listing notes some rare features such as remains of an 18th century spice door (spice was worth more than gold in the 1800s). The later additions/tweaks have created almost double the square footage downstairs as upstairs, hence it is much more flexible to changing needs than most. There is updating to be done but overall it appears very well kept, with bathrooms already modernised.

The facade is quintessentially English country cottage, with pretty casement windows either side of a wide front door. Once inside, the hallway runs straight ahead of you, culminating in some cupboards fitted to the end, probably filling what was originally a door aperture.

The main living room to your right is appealing, and quite extensive. Various beams criss-cross part of the ceiling. At the rear there is an enormous under stairs cupboard, and over to the right the central focus is an original stone fireplace, complete with both a bread oven (the iron door, unusually, remains) and a spice cupboard. As the room is double aspect it has more natural light than most. And a ledge and brace door to the rear leads out to the garden.

Opposite the sitting room you come to the dining room. What looks to be an early Victorian fireplace with red brick interior sits elegantly in the far wall, and to the front another window seat looks out over the quiet lane to the front.

Head back down the hall past the stairs and you enter the later addition. On your right a refreshingly modern, re-fitted shower room is also pleasingly spacious. A wide vanity unit is topped off within a modern sink, and the shower includes a thermostatic selector.

Opposite, the kitchen is quite some size, with more than ample space for a small table at the near end, a perfect spot for breakfast gazing down the garden through the stable door behind. A range of units on either side sits atop terracotta tile flooring, and beyond it steps lead up to a very useful utility room.

Doors to either side lead to yet more accommodation. At the front, the garage is far wider than normal - over 14 ft (4m) wide at its greatest point, with a single up and over door to the front. And opposite, the sunroom is perhaps the brightest and the most welcoming space in the house, a later addition with glazing covering most of the rear and right sides to maximise the view.

At the top of the stairs, The age of the house and its history become even more apparent. An original a-frame timber harking back to the days of thatch frames the edge of the window above the stairs. Opposite, various timbers criss-cross the wall between landing and middle bedroom. Off to one side, the first of the three upstairs bedrooms is charm itself. More thick timbers - a roof truss and wall plate - are exposed in the rear eaves. And unusually, the vast cupboard to the side is so large it has its own window overlooking the lane, plus a toilet in another room to the side! This space could easily be reconfigured for a "Jack and Jill" bathroom for two rooms, as it connects to the bedroom next door.

On the which note, the middle bedroom may be the most compact of the double rooms, but it's stuffed with character. Those same wall beams on the landing now show inside the bedroom. It's also well-proportioned, assisted by a pair of integrated cupboards to the side that save space for other furnishings.

At the end of the landing, the last bedroom is also the largest, and a significant size at that. Two deep cupboards on the near wall offer great storage. The A-frame roof trusses part visible elsewhere in this case run up both eaves and across the ceiling, a really appealing feature. Windows to front and rear make this a delightfully bright room. And the door next to the bed leads into a rather elegant ensuite bathroom that also houses a good sized airing cupboard.

Outside requires comprehensive explanation. To the front, the cottage has a charming outlook over first the quiet lane, with Bletchingdon Park estate stone boundary wall on the opposite side, behind which are some delightful trees. The garage up and over door sits on the left end of the house, and as the house is very wide, the natural parking across its frontage extends to 3 or 4 spaces, which are not restricted. On the right hand side a gate provides handy access to the rear garden.

Behind the house, the labour of love over many decades has created the most idyllic of gardens. Behind the sunroom, a broad terrace is dotted about with all manner of perennials, flowers, shrubs, most of which we neither recognise, nor could probably pronounce if we did! The hedge down the left-hand side also provides a great degree of privacy.

Behind the door from the living room, a path runs round the edge of the house, with stepping stones leading over to the right, and a dizzying array of planted beds and borders run alongside a pretty strip of lawn. A bank of shrubs and trees forms a natural border, with an open central arch between the first half of the garden and the second half.

Beyond it, there is serious industry with a covered growing frame, greenhouse, low-level glazed frames, all manner of trees, flowers, a potting shed, grey water harvesting… For those with green fingers there really are few better places. The total space of the whole garden is quite significant. But in addition, the layout is such that parts can be simplified and large swathes left as wildflower space to encourage bird and insect life if desired.