MID January saw the launch onto the market, for the first time in almost 50 years, of imposing Georgian Purton House, with 30 acres of land at Church End, Purton, on the Gloucestershire/Wiltshire border, 14 miles south of Cirencester and five miles west of Swindon station. Selling agent Charles Elsmore-Wickens of Savills in Oxford (01865 339702) quotes a guide price of £2.75 million for the much-loved home of the Barkers, whose parents bought the house almost 50 years ago.
There has been a house of importance on the site since medieval times, when Purton was part of the vast land holdings of Malmesbury Abbey, much of which was leased to wealthy tenants. Church End stands on a limestone ridge, which provided a ready supply of good building stone