Estate designed by Capability Brown for sale for £7.5m

A stunning historic country estate with parkland designed by ‘Britain’s greatest gardener’ Capability Brown has gone on the market for £7.5million.

The Shortgrove Estate is a Grade II listed parkland and comes with a large nine-bedroom house, four cottages, a well established shoot and about 715 acres of land.

Capability Brown was commissioned to work on the gardens and parkland in 1794, much of which still remains today.

The Shortgrove Estate is a Grade II listed parkland and comes with a large nine-bedroom house, four cottages, a well established shoot and about 715 acres of land

The house has 6,633 sq ft of accommodation with a large reception hall, sitting room, dining room, family room, garden room, kitchen and breakfast room, study, TV room, nine bedrooms and four bathrooms

The house has 6,633 sq ft of accommodation with a large reception hall, sitting room, dining room, family room, garden room, kitchen and breakfast room, study, TV room, nine bedrooms and four bathrooms

It has been in the current owner's family for almost 80 years and the land is currently farmed in-hand under a contract. Pictured is a large sitting room which has plenty of storage and large windows

It has been in the current owner’s family for almost 80 years and the land is currently farmed in-hand under a contract. Pictured is a large sitting room which has plenty of storage and large windows

Shortgrove Hall and its gardens in Essex were sold off from the rest of the estate in 1963 to property dealer Geoffrey Allen, a friend of East End gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray.

The original 16th building mansion was destroyed by a fire three years later and the remains were demolished and replaced with a smaller house.

Mr Allen was later found guilty of insurance fraud totalling more than £300,000 for fires at Shortgrove and another property, Briggate Mill in Norfolk.

Now the main house on the estate is Le Pavillon, formerly a pair of estate cottages which were considerably extended and renovated in the 1950s to create the current house.

The house has 6,633 sq ft of accommodation with a large reception hall, sitting room, dining room, family room, garden room, kitchen and breakfast room, study, TV room, nine bedrooms and four bathrooms.

It has walled gardens with a swimming pool, a terraced seating area and a picturesque lake close to the house with the immediate grounds extending to 2.65 acres.

Within the estate there are also the two-bedroom detached Garden Cottage, semi-detached three-bedroom New Cottages and Castle Milk, the estate’s former dairy which is now a one-bedroom cottage.

It has walled gardens with a swimming pool, a terraced seating area and a picturesque lake close to the house with the immediate grounds extending to 2.65 acres

It has walled gardens with a swimming pool, a terraced seating area and a picturesque lake close to the house with the immediate grounds extending to 2.65 acres

The estate also has 534 acres of arable land and grassland as well as 159 acres of woodland. Capability Brown was commissioned to work on the gardens and parkland in 1794, much of which still remains today

The estate also has 534 acres of arable land and grassland as well as 159 acres of woodland. Capability Brown was commissioned to work on the gardens and parkland in 1794, much of which still remains today

The estate also has 534 acres of arable land and grassland as well as 159 acres of woodland.

It has been in the current owner’s family for almost 80 years and the land is currently farmed in-hand under a contract.

A well-established private shoot is also run from the estate with it hosting nine drive days a year in recent years.

Charlie Paton, from estate agents Savills, who are handling the sale, said: ‘Shortgrove Estate is very pretty undulating land, it’s a really nice farm with all the feel of an estate.

‘The main house was sold off some time ago but there is still a sizable principle house there.

‘It’s got quite a broad brush appeal with its accessibility to London and Cambridge as well as farmers.

A well-established private shoot is also run from the estate with it hosting nine drive days a year in recent years. Pictured is some of the stunning land which is included in the hefty price tag

A well-established private shoot is also run from the estate with it hosting nine drive days a year in recent years. Pictured is some of the stunning land which is included in the hefty price tag

Charlie Paton, from estate agents Savills, who are handling the sale, said: 'There are other residential properties there so you could live the country lifestyle in the main house and have someone else run the farm, that's how it's dealt with at the moment and it works really well'

Charlie Paton, from estate agents Savills, who are handling the sale, said: ‘There are other residential properties there so you could live the country lifestyle in the main house and have someone else run the farm, that’s how it’s dealt with at the moment and it works really well’

Shortgrove Hall and its gardens in Essex were sold off from the rest of the estate in 1963 to property dealer Geoffrey Allen, a friend of East End gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray (pictured above with their Mrs Violet Kray and Grandfather James Lee in Bethnal Green)

Shortgrove Hall and its gardens in Essex were sold off from the rest of the estate in 1963 to property dealer Geoffrey Allen, a friend of East End gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray (pictured above with their Mrs Violet Kray and Grandfather James Lee in Bethnal Green)

‘It will either appeal to a buyer who wants to live there or to investors.

‘There are other residential properties there so you could live the country lifestyle in the main house and have someone else run the farm, that’s how it’s dealt with at the moment and it works really well.

‘The parkland is registered as a historic park and garden by English Heritage. It’s beautifully done, as Capability Brown’s work always is.

‘The lake by the house is part of the original landscaping and the planting of the trees is still there as it would have been.

‘Farming estates like this are rare on the market, it has been in the family for some time and it is now time to pass to the next custodian.’ 

Brown’s England: ‘Britain’s greatest gardener’ 

Born in Northumberland, Brown was head gardener at Stowe House and later became George III’s master gardener at Hampton Court Palace. He was dubbed ‘Capability’ because he would tell clients their grounds had ‘capability’ for improvement. He designed more than 170 parks and gardens at the finest country houses, many of which endure. These are some of his other masterpieces…

Blenheim, Oxfordshire 

 Brown was commissioned by the Duke of Marlborough in 1764 to transform the parkland. He famously submerged the lower half of Vanbrugh’s bridge in the river.

Chatsworth, Derbyshire

An early commission, the estate of the Dukes of Devonshire occupied Brown from 1760 to 1764. He altered the course of the River Derwent and carried out extensive tree planting.

Petworth, West Sussex

The best-preserved of Brown’s parks. His plans for it date from 1752 and show many of the same features as the gardens at Stowe.

Compton Verney, Warwickshire

Not far from Stratford-upon-Avon, this 17th-century home now houses a fantastic art gallery. Brown remodelled the landscape, planting 2,200 oak and ash saplings, as well as designing an ice house in a valley among yew trees.

Bowood, Wiltshire

Commissioned by the Marquess of Lansdowne (who was prime minister during the American War of Independence peace settlement), the park there looks splendid in autumn.

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