Country house with outbuildings and acreage.



Description

The hall is approached through a substantial hardwood door. The hall is well lit with two front window and features some exposed timbers and a fine staircase. There is access to the cloakroom, the principal wing to the west and a sitting room. Also off the hall is the kitchen and a utility room. There is also a study and dining room. The kitchen showcases a four-oven AGA, set within a brick-lined alcove topped with a bressumer. Adjacent is a useful walk-in pantry, and opposite colour-washed units topped with granite and wood provide base level storage and a breakfast bar island. The kitchen floor has travertine stone tiles. Open from the kitchen is a beautiful family room featuring a vaulted ceiling with exposed trusses complemented by a wooden floor and double doors frame lovely views of the gardens. At the front of the house a dining room sits well against the kitchen making for formal dining or a more relaxed open plan family area. On the south side is the home office. At the opposite end of the house the principal reception rooms are orientated to overlook the bulk of the property’s grounds. A drawing room, with north, east and south elevations features a red-brick inglenook fireplace with wood burner, an oak bressumer complementing the exposed oak ceiling timbers. In one corner is a period fitted china cabinet. The sitting room opens on to a covered veranda and features a large red-brick inglenook fireplace with wood burner.

The first floor landing is well lit by a large front window. There are up to seven bedrooms although bedrooms six and seven could be utilised as an independent suite. The principal bedroom occupies the east wing featuring a vaulted ceiling and with dressing room and en suite. There are four further bedrooms (two en suite) with lovely elevated views over the grounds.

Outside
The grounds adjoin farmland to the south, east and west forming a parkland setting. The partly-moated gardens are planted with a scattering of mature deciduous trees and include a number of very useful outbuildings - a former office with phone line and cloakroom extending to 22’ in length, a mower shed, a barn and a former stable. Within the courtyard next to the house is a substantial cart lodge with two secure bays and two open bays.

Farmland
Immediately adjacent to the grounds is a block of farmland extending to about 7.58 acres (including the drive) with the potential for paddocks, subject to planning to change the land use.

Land
House and grounds: about 2.88 acres
Farmland and drive: about 7.58 acres
Available as a whole or without the farmland

Services
Mains water, electricity. Private drainage and oil-fired heating.

Location

High Easter: 1.3 miles, Pleshey village : 1.9 miles, Great Waltham: 4.6 miles, Felsted: 5.5 miles (A120: 5.2 miles), Great Dunmow: 7.1 miles, Chelmsford: 8.5 miles (Liverpool Street from 36 minutes), Stansted Airport: 12.5 miles, A12 (junction 19): 11.5 miles. All distances approximate.

Pleshey is an historic small village lying to the northwest of Chelmsford and is built around the site of a former motte and bailey castle. This was once the ancestral home of Geoffrey de Mandeville, who was Earl of Essex and one of the 25 Magna Carta barons. Pleshey occupied an important place in English history for many years and is mentioned in Shakespeare’s Richard II with the line “With all good speed at Plashy (sic) visit me.” It was also the birth place of Mary de Bohun, first wife of Henry IV and the mother of the future King Henry V. The village pub (The Leather Bottle), Holy Trinity Church and the village hall form the hub of the community, with a general store and post office located in the nearby village of Great Waltham and a choice of primary schools in Great and Little Waltham and Ford End.

The county town and city of Chelmsford is about 7 miles away and offers a wide choice of shops, restaurants, bars, sports facilities and a station on the main line into London Liverpool Street.

Pleshey falls within the catchment area for a number of exceptional schools, including the King Edward Grammar School for boys and Chelmsford County High School for Girls (both selective and amongst the best secondary schools in the country) and Chelmer Valley High School, which is a comprehensive.

The village of Felsted and its well known independent school are just 4.5 miles away and New Hall School on the outskirts of Chelmsford is also within easy reach.

Raylands Moat occupies an attractive location at Stagden Cross, which is just to the west of the village in the direction of High Easter. The property sits at the end of a quarter of a mile-long long private drive, which it shares with one property. The building dates back to the 17th century and is listed grade II. A former hall house which was extended and remodelled in 1993/4.

Square Footage: 3,850 sq ft


Acreage: 2.88 Acres

Directions

From High Easter village proceed along The Street towards Pleshey and at Stagden Cross carry straight on, taking the next unmade turning on the right-hand side. Continue to the end of this drive where the house will be found behind the electric gates.

Postcode: CM3 1HS