The Chipping

The front door opens into a welcoming hallway come dining room with a wonderful original flagstone floor (recently uncovered and carefully restored), as well as a fireplace with open fire. A door to the left of the front door leads into a charming sitting room which houses a fireplace with working log burner flanked by built in bookshelves. Original features including window seats, oak ceiling beams, reclaimed doors, and wooden floorboards, have been carefully preserved. 

Leading off from the dining room is the kitchen which was extended by the current owner to create a large light filled space. 

Mindful and sensitive to the historic atmosphere of the house, the extension feels very much in keeping with the rest of the property and features cleverly designed workshop style laterally sliding windows as well as French Windows which open on to the garden. It is fitted with a Plain English kitchen, wide oak floorboards, and an electric AGA as well as a bright breakfast seating area.

A practical high-ceilinged utility to the side of the kitchen with boot cupboard and WC. A cellar with original coal shoot is located on the floor below.

The first floor, accessed via a winder oak staircase, houses a bathroom with shower, a linen cupboard, and two bedrooms, including the large dual aspect master with original oak floor. The second floor similarly houses two double bedrooms, one dual aspect, and a bathroom with bath. All bedrooms and bathrooms are in excellent condition.

Recent additions to the house such as the elegant freestanding cast iron radiators throughout and folding window shutters to the sitting and dining rooms are beautifully in keeping with the historic feel of the property whilst also serving practical purposes to maintain warmth and comfort.

The quiet East-facing lawned garden to the rear of the house is surrounded by flowerbeds and backs onto a stone wall. 

Tetbury is everyone’s idea of the perfect town

Situated amongst rolling hills in an area of outstanding natural beauty, Tetbury is a famous for its myriad of picturesque streets and fine antiques shops.

With roots spanning across millennia, the origins of the town lie in an ancient hill fort which was later the site of an Anglo Saxon monastery. The towns prosperity greatly expanded in the middle ages off the back of the burgeoning English wool trade. This wealth is evidenced by its abundance of fine stone buildings. 

The fine Grade I listed pillared Market House in the centre of Tetbury was built in 1655 and holds a twice-weekly market. The town is serviced by a wide selection of shops, restaurants, and delis including the Highgrove Shop.

There is also a thriving Arts Centre in the form of The Goods Shed (a converted Victorian GWR building) and many green spaces to visit nearby, including the King’s private residence at Highgrove, national arboretum at Westonbirt and Chavenage House, made famous by its use for many TV and film locations.

Gloucestershire is noted for its schools, both state run and private. Of the former there is Sir William Romney’s School in Tetbury, as well as The Marling and Stroud High in Stroud. In the private sector there is Beaudesert Park, a highly regarded pre and preparatory school on Minchinhampton Common, Wycliffe College at Stonehouse, Westonbirt School, as well as the schools and colleges in Cheltenham. 

Tetbury also has good access to the road network with the M4 at Junction 17 (Chippenham) 11 miles away and Kemble Station is only 7 miles away and offers intercity services to London, Paddington (scheduled to take about 75 minutes). There are a number of golf courses in the area, including the highly regarded courses at Minchinhampton. There is an equestrian centre in Barton End and world class eventing at Badminton and Gatcombe. The Cotswold Water Park offers many opportunities for water sports enthusiasts and there is racing at Cheltenham and Chepstow. Splendid relaxation is provided at Calcot Hotel & Spa which offers two excellent restaurants and at the spa a gymnasium, a pool, and a range of top-class treatments.

Ferndale House is tucked away at the top of the Chipping Steps, an idyllically pretty row of former weavers’ houses overlooking a medieval street with three flights of steps running down towards a churchyard and the Millennium Green. 

The steps once formed a main entrance to the town and lead up to an open square known as the ‘The Chipping’, a name derived from an Old English word, where markets would have taken place in times gone by. 

The house itself is a beautiful grade II listed four-bedroom property which has been sensitively restored to a very high standard by the current owners. Its location carries the convenience of being within a stone’s throw of the heart of Tetbury whilst also maintaining an outlook over green spaces and a tranquillity rare to find in the middle of a popular town. 

The cream rendered (to check?) mid 18th century façade of the house is set slightly back from the cobbled Cotswold Stone street behind a low stone wall and iron front gate. Climbing rosebushes and flowerbeds flank the front door, which is capped with a handsome plain stone hood and decorative consoles.