A striking house overlooking an estuary that was once a hub for smugglers has gone on the market for £575,000.
Strood House played an important part in the smuggling past of Peldon on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex and it still has a ‘smugglers window’ in it.
If the light in the window overlooking the waterway was on then illicit traders knew it was safe place to stow their contraband.
Peldon was popular with the smugglers of Mersea Island, which is connected to the mainland by the Strood causeway, between the 16th and 19th centuries, when local residents would provide their cellars to hide illegal goods from the excise men.
Strood House overlooks the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, which was once used as a hub for smugglers, and has now gone on the market for £575,000

The property has 0.6 acres and the spacious gardens has a formal lawned area with a summer house and a willow walkway which leads to a more secluded orchard area planted with fruit trees

Strood House also has a self-contained studio annexe which can be used for further accommodation or as a home office/studio with a living room/bedroom, a kitchen and a shower room
Strood House was one of these properties which helped hide contraband like alcohol, tobacco, sugar, nutmeg, lace and soap, and is just a two minute walk from the Peldon Rose Inn, a favourite haunt for the smugglers.
The Grade II listed property, which has stunning views from all the bedrooms, is now being sold by estate agents Fenn Wright.
The house has a staircase leading from the first floor landing to the second floor where the ‘smugglers window’ is.
Smuggling was greatly reduced in the area by the 1850s with the introduction of the coastguard at West Mersea and developments in modern communication.
The property was taken over by the military during the Second World War, when Mersea Island became part of the frontline for invasion and was heavily fortified.
Literary agent Caradoc King, who sold the film rights for the Horse Whisperer to Robert Redford for $3m before fist-time novelist Nicholas Evans had even finished writing the book, spent his childhood at Strood House in the 1950s and wrote about it in his memoir Problem Child.
The Grade II listed house has a sitting room, family room, dining room, kitchen, five bedrooms, which all have beautiful views of either countryside or the estuary, and two bathrooms.

Strood House played an important part in the smuggling past of Peldon on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex and it still has a ‘smugglers window’ in it

The house has a staircase leading from the first floor landing to the second floor where the ‘smugglers window’ is

The Grade II listed house has a sitting room, family room, dining room, kitchen, five bedrooms, which all have beautiful views of either countryside or the estuary, and two bathrooms
It also has a self-contained studio annexe which can be used for further accommodation or as a home office/studio with a living room/bedroom, a kitchen and a shower room.
The property has 0.6 acres and the spacious gardens has a formal lawned area with a summer house and a willow walkway which leads to a more secluded orchard area planted with fruit trees.
Owner Carol Kitto said: ‘There is so much about Strood House that I love. It doesn’t matter which window you’re looking out of, you are always guaranteed stunning views of Mersea Island, the River Stour and the Blackwater estuary.
‘When my husband and I moved to Essex we were looking for a project and Strood House, with the added appeal of all its historical ties, felt like the perfect fit.
‘I’ll be sad to leave the house behind, but the prospect of downsizing brings with it new adventures.’