Langley Ridge

Tucked behind a stone wall on the outskirts of the village of Kington Langley, Langley Ridge is an idyllic stone farmhouse dating from the 18th & early 19th century. 

The house is approached via a large walled and gravelled courtyard with the main house to one side and a double garage, extensive outbuildings, and a pretty brick and stone guest cottage to the other side. 

The house has an excellent flow for family life and entertaining. The front door opens onto a light filled hallway which runs from the front to the back of the house. To one side sits a comfortable and generous triple aspect double drawing room with open fire and bay window and French windows onto the garden. To the other side sits the dining room with built in cupboards, stone fireplace and bay window. A cosy library with smart built in bookshelves and a delft tile lined open fireplace provides a quiet refuge, as does the separate study which also has its own fireplace. 

The large double aspect kitchen is full of light provided by a window lined bay which houses a long family breakfast table overlooking the garden. A practical utility/boot room sits to one side of the kitchen. French windows on the other side of the kitchen lead into a generous and beautifully finished conservatory overlooking a terrace which runs along the wisteria adorned south façade at the back of the house. 

The first floor accommodates the principal bedroom suite with ensuite shower room, two bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, a family bathroom and three further bedrooms, one of which is set up as a dressing room. The second floor houses an additional bedroom.

Further space for guests or ancillary accommodation is provided by a charming and independently accessible cottage with its own section of garden.

A highlight of this home is its glorious south facing garden. The main part of the garden is situated behind the high stone walls of the courtyard which ensure privacy and provide a suntrap for border flowerbeds and climbing plants including a large fig tree.

The stone terrace and conservatory at the back of the house overlook an extensive flat lawn and a host of mature trees and shrubs which back onto surrounding fields. A vegetable patch and greenhouse are located at the west end of the garden.

There are a number of great schools including Sheldon and Hardenhuis in Chippenham and outstanding and independent schools such as Calder House School and Heywood Prep nearby. Further highly rated choices include King Edward’s School, Royal High and Kingswood School in Bath.

Langley Ridge’s position strikes a wonderful balance of boasting both the charm of a picturesque rural location and the practicality of hassle-free access to London and Bath. 

The house is situated in the outskirts of the popular North Wiltshire village of Kington Langley sandwiched between the Marlborough Downs to the East and Cotswolds AONB to the West. Kington Langley is a very pretty unspoilt stone village with a parish church, a primary school, an active village hall, and a high proportion of large houses situated around the two extensive village commons. 

The lively Saxon market town of Chippenham with its fortnightly farmers market and award- winning family delicatessen and butchery Allington Farm shop is under 10-minute drive away and covers all daily amenities. 

The Cotswold market towns of Tetbury and Malmsbury are both a 30-minute drive away, as is Bath with its rich choice of excellent restaurants, independent shops, galleries, theatres, and Botanical Gardens. 

Daily life in the parish is best documented by its most famous son, the diarist Francis Kilvert (1840-1879), who was born at Hardenhuish Lane in 1840 and served as curate at neighbouring village of Langley Burrell in the mid 1860s. Kilvert’s diaries have provided both valuable insight and popular escapism into daily life of the mid-Victorian era since they were first published during the second world war.

His writings are littered with amusing anecdotes and poetic descriptions which impart his fondness for the local landscapes and characters. Indeed, Kilvert harboured quite a particular fondness for former inhabitant of Langley Ridge Ettie Meredith-Brown and directly references calling at the house a number of times: