The Bridehead Estate, Littlebredy, Dorchester, Dorset, DT2

A spectacular 2,047 acre Estate with impressive Grade II* Listed family home at the heart of a diverse residential, farming, sporting and conservation Estate.

Available as a whole.

The Bridehead Estate is situated in the heart of Dorset, one of the most beautiful counties in England. The Estate occupies an enviable position within the rolling countryside which is so typical of this part of Dorset.

Lying centrally within the Estate is Bridehead and the village of Littlebredy, both enjoying the privacy offered by the rolling topography yet benefitting from good access onto the A35 to the north.

The majority of the farmland is currently occupied under various farm business tenancies and the well-established woodland provides the opportunity to enhance the excellent pheasant and partridge shoot, accessed by a series of conveniently laid out tracks. The diverse terrain supports a wide range of wildlife including a managed roedeer population. The Valley of Stones located within the Estate is a National Nature Reserve.

The Bridehead Estate comprises all the key elements of a traditional, residential and sporting Estate.

The house is built of rendered stone and brick elevations with small projecting corner turrets with blind lancets at ground floor level and string and crenellated parapet tops. It is archetypal regency and was originally roughly square in shape from the existing main door at the front to the wall containing the dining room fireplace at the rear.

In the mid 1800’s, Bridehead was enlarged westward with the addition of the south facing library, billiards room and conservatory (now housing a swimming pool). All the principal rooms enjoy a south elevation, all with tall cross-transom windows. Many of the ground floor rooms enjoy the benefit of ribbed panels and gadrooned cornice-mouldings and have views across the adjoining lawns and extensive lake to the south.

The front door leads to the reception hall and there are five impressive principal south facing reception rooms that lead off the hall, long hall and prayer room. These include sitting room, drawing room, dining room and, via the prayer room, a library and billiard room which in turn leads to the conservatory with swimming pool.

Of the Bridehead interiors, the finest is generally held to be the library with its magnificent oak floor, ceiling, bookshelves and impressive fireplace with large ogee head and crenellated cornice. Within the prayer room there are three major bay divisions having centred arches with perpendicular style fireplace and bookcases, all with crenellated parapets. The reception hall also provides access to the office, which has a black marble fireplace. A stone passage parallel with the long hall leads to the kitchen and domestic areas. To the rear of the house there are various stores, cloakrooms, larders and boiler rooms that in turn lead to a large garage area. There is a redundant lift located off the prayer room.

On the first floor there are currently nine double bedrooms, the majority enjoying spectacular views across the parkland and lake. There are four bathrooms and dressing room. To the rear of the house, a laundry/ironing room and a staff flat offer staff bedroom, sitting room and bathroom.

On the second floor there are seven further bedrooms which offer significant additional accommodation.

Whilst the house was under construction, the architect, P.F. Robinson was also designing the “Estate Village” of Littlebredy. Many of the properties located within Littlebredy are thatched, as is the village hall. Its continuing status as an “Estate Village” is evident from the uniformity of building styles and materials but also from the absence of piecemeal development.

In total, there are 32 properties which are mainly located within the village, with 6 in off-lying farm or woodland settings. The majority are let on Assured Shorthold Tenancies.

The majority of the land is classified as grade 3 on the agricultural land classification suitable for all cereals, legumes and grassland and whilst in the past, arable cropping was the norm, more recently the majority of the land has supported an extensive New Zealand style dairy enterprise.

Some of the steeper banks of permanent pasture are grazed. The majority of the land is let on short-term Farm Business Tenancies. A parcel of some 250 acres of land designated as a National Nature Reserve known as the Valley of Stones is let on a longer agreement to Natural England.

The woodlands are an integral part of the landscape that typifies the Dorset AONB. Many of the woods are ancient and semi-natural being the remnants of a much larger wooded landscape. The principal species are Ash and Sycamore which dominate mainly through natural regeneration, but Beech, Oak, Hazel and Field Maple can also be found in reasonable numbers. Conifer species tend to be limited to Western Red Cedar, Norway Spruce and Larch.

The woodlands have been under the management of a professional forester for the last twelve years and a programme of thinning and phased re-stocking across the woodland compartments has been undertaken with a view to producing a sustainable yield of timber within a robust habitat with sporting potential.