A country estate that was occupied by the Bank of England during World War Two is on the market for offers of more than £15million.
The Longparish Estate in Hampshire will be of particular interest to anglers as it comes with the rights to the number one fly fishing river in England.
The legendary River Test runs through the estate and it offers the rare opportunity to own more than 6,700ft of double-bank fishing on Britain’s most famous chalk stream.
The main house, built in the style of a French chateau, has 10,916 sq ft with a sitting room, double drawing room, dining room, library, a kitchen/breakfast room, five bedroom suites, four further bedrooms, a billiard room and wine cellars.
Decadent: The Longparish Estate in Hampshire has gone on sale and is expected to fetch more than £15million. The estate has a rich history and was occupied by the Bank of England during World War Two. Built in the 17th century, the historic house was owned for more than a century by the Hawker family and Col Peter Hawker, who wrote Advice to Young Sportsmen (1814)
The Longparish Estate in Hampshire will be of particular interest to anglers as it comes with the rights to the number one fly fishing river in England. The legendary River Test runs through the estate and it offers the rare opportunity to own more than 6,700ft of double-bank fishing on Britain’s most famous chalk stream
The main house, built in the style of a French chateau, has 10,916 sq ft with a sitting room, double drawing room, dining room, library, a kitchen/breakfast room, five bedroom suites, four further bedrooms, a billiard room and wine cellars. The interior is lavishly decorated
But the spectacular 177-acre estate won’t just appeal to angling enthusiasts with shooting also enjoyed on the land.
The historic house was owned for more than a century by the Hawker family and Col Peter Hawker wrote Advice to Young Sportsmen (1814), which is still the traditional bible for young people taking up shooting and fishing.
The estate has everything a modern country gent or lady could want with a Grade II* listed country house, three cottages, outbuildings, gardens with a swimming pool and tennis court, water meadows, farmland and woodland.
The main house dates from the 17th century and was owned by the Hawker family in the late 18th and 19th century.
Col Hawker joined the army at 15 but was seriously injured during the Peninsular War in 1809 and invalided back to England.
Around his military career he spent much of his time fishing and shooting, often at Longparish. He retired from active service in 1813 and his sporting ‘bible’ was first published a year later.
The estate was sold to the Dawnay family in 1919 who owned it for 70 years, but during the Second World War it was occupied by the Bank of England.
Maj-Gen Guy Payan Dawnay’s son Kit served as aide-de-camp to Field Marshal Montgomery and he came to inspect the Longparish Home Guard during the war.
The estate has everything a modern country gent or lady could want with a Grade II* listed country house, three cottages, outbuildings, gardens with a swimming pool and tennis court, water meadows, farmland and woodland. The property is on the edge of the picturesque Longparish village in the Test Valley and sits in an area of outstanding natural beauty
Alex Lawson from Savills, who are handling the sale, said: ‘Properties like this almost never come to the market, there hasn’t been one as good as this since it was last on the market nine years ago. Good houses and estates on the Test are as rare as hen’s teeth’
The current owners bought the estate in 2008 and have significantly improved the quality and extent of fishing and improved the wider estate, running a fun family shoot for duck, pheasant and partridge. In the river the majority of brown trout are wild and a lake has been created stocked with rainbow and brown trout
The current owners bought the estate in 2008 and have significantly improved the quality and extent of fishing and improved the wider estate, running a fun family shoot for duck, pheasant and partridge.
In the river the majority of brown trout are wild and a lake has been created stocked with rainbow and brown trout, which makes the estate suitable for beginners and experienced fishermen.
The property is on the edge of the picturesque Longparish village in the Test Valley and sits in an area of outstanding natural beauty.
Alex Lawson from Savills, who are handling the sale, said: ‘The house is in a popular area for country sports.
‘There are definitely stories about Col Peter Hawker at Longparish and within his diaries accounts about him enjoying shooting and sport there.
‘The owners themselves have described the property as a little bit of everything.
‘It’s not a massive stately home and sprawling acres of land but you’ve got a nice house with historic connections, wonderful gardens and grounds and just under 180 acres of land – enough to give you privacy and the opportunity to have a shoot.
‘But the most important is the River Test. It’s considered the number one fly fishing river in England and having a mile and a half of that running through your estate is really rare.
‘Properties like this almost never come to the market, there hasn’t been one as good as this since it was last on the market nine years ago. Good houses and estates on the Test are as rare as hen’s teeth.’