Moretonhampstead, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ13

Wray Barton Manor is understood to have been built in 1846, but has much earlier origins and a fascinating history. The Manor of Wray appears in Domesday and a letter from a John Courtier in 1846 states that he is building a house at Wray ‘a few yards from the old castellated place I am living for the present time’.

The house is Listed as being of architectural and historical interest, Grade II, and is stated as being ‘circa 1840….Victorian Tudor Gothic style’. With its steep gables and bay windows on the front elevation, drip moulds, diagonal wall buttresses, towering chimney stack and octagonal chimney, it is a classic example of that style and era.

The house occupies a beautiful, elevated setting with lovely views over the Wray Valley and surrounding Dartmoor countryside and provides very spacious family accommodation with the well-proportioned, high ceilinged rooms with features such as exposed boarded flooring, attractive fireplaces, widow shutters, picture and dado rails and decorative cornicing, typical of the architectural period.

There are four main reception rooms on the ground floor, the drawing and music rooms having bay widows to the south and the dining room French doors to the terrace and gardens, with the kitchen/breakfast room having fully fitted kitchen with island and AGA and opening to a conservatory area, also with doors to the terrace and gardens.

On the first floor, doors off the landing open to the principal and guest suites and three further bedrooms, and a rear staircase rises from the boot room off the kitchen to the studio and additional bedroom. On the second/attic floor are three more bedrooms.

Beside the house, and with separate access either from the courtyard behind the house or its own garden, is the sizeable four bedroom cottage which is attached to a range of barns/outbuildings providing useful storage or further potential (subject to planning permission). The cottage is entirely self-contained with its own garden and parking facilities.

Between the house and cottage/outbuildings is a courtyard area, including a verandah covered terrace. There is also a garage/stable building and a further workshop and store. The entrance driveway leads into a broad, tarmac parking and turning area beside the house.

The landscaped gardens and grounds are a particular feature of Wray Barton Manor and provide an idyllic setting. To the front of the house, on the south side, is a wide terrace affording gorgeous views over the surrounding Dartmoor countryside and doors from the conservatory and dining room open to another terrace providing a delightful sitting and outside dining area.

Below, flights of steps descend to extensive lawned gardens interspersed with mature, ornamental trees and a copse area with lovely walkways through the established flora. Within the gardens is an octagonal summer house and studio and a gorgeous sunken walled garden with children’s play area, lawned and terrace areas. In addition is a charming hidden walled rose garden which can be approached via an intriguing, vaulted granite tunnel.

The gardens sweep down to adjoin the extensive level pasture paddock to the south, beside the Wray Brook, which runs through its southern end and where there is also a wildlife pond.

Wray Barton Manor is situated in the beautiful Wray Valley, about 1.5 miles to the south of Moretonhampstead, on the north east side of Dartmoor National Park.

The attractive, historic and thriving moorland town of Moretonhampstead possesses an excellent range of local amenities, including beautiful church, primary school, hospital/health centre, doctor’s, dentist’s and vet’s surgeries, pubs, café and restaurant, library, sports centre and outdoor swimming pool in summer.

In addition, there is a good selection of shops including butcher/deli, bakery, general store, greengrocer, pharmacy and post office. There are private schools in the area at Stover, Tavistock and in Exeter.

The Wray Valley Trail provides a scenic path for walkers and cyclists and nearby there are several picturesque Dartmoor towns and villages, such as Chagford and Lustleigh. There is golf at Bovey Castle and Stover, near Newton Abbot.

Dartmoor is renowned for its spectacular scenery, with its heather clad moorland, granite tors and wooded valleys bisected by rushing streams and rivers and there are many opportunities on the doorstep for walking, cycling, fishing, riding etc. The stunning South Devon coast is also within easy reach.

There is easy access down the A382, via Bovey Tracey, to the A38 dual carriageway leading east to the university and cathedral city of Exeter (also easily accessible via a cross country route ), and west to Plymouth. At Exeter there is access on to the M5 motorway and an airport, and from Plymouth there are ferries to France and Spain. There is a station at Newton Abbot with mainline connections to London (Paddington) via Exeter.