Country estate of the month

THE HIGHER MELCOMBE ESTATE, DORCHESTER, DORSET

This is a Dorset estate of 538 acres – a mix of arable, grazing and pasture land and woodland, with all sporting rights in hand. The main property is a Grade I-listed Elizabethan Manor with eight bedrooms, a reception hall, drawing room, library, chapel and wine cellar. There is also a detached farmhouse and four cottages in the sale, as well as a range of listed traditional Dorset stone barns and livestock buildings. The estate forms a bowl, with the manor and buildings centrally located. Higher Melcombe is home to a well-known beauty spot, the Dorset Gap – an historic crossroads with views towards the Downs and the Wessex Ridgeway. The parcels of woodland and the topography make for good sporting potential and amenity, and with a local pub called The Brace of Pheasants you can’t go far wrong. The estate is 10 miles from Dorchester.

Agent: Strutt & Parker Tel: 01722 344010

Guide price: £8.75 million