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WITH little new to look at since the start of the year, the frenzy has gone out of the country-house market in the West Country—especially in Devon, where there is ‘a dreadful shortage’ of family houses in sought-after parts of the county, such as the area around Blundells School in Tiverton, says Ed Clarkson of buying agents Property Vision. Fortunately, the West Country is a big place and good houses with land can still be found in tranquil corners closer to London.
Previously located in Dorset and now in Wiltshire following boundary changes, the manor of Sedgehill was owned by Shaftesbury Abbey in the early 12th century. At the Dissolution, it passed to the Crown and was granted, in 1540, to Sir Thomas Poynings, who immediately sold it to Sir Thomas Arundell. Following Arundell’s arrest and execution, the manor was acquired, in 1573, by William Grove, who was briefly MP for Shaftesbury. The estate, which diminished in size as farms
