- Billingham Manor on the Isle of Wight was bought in 1933 by Priestley
- He wrote his autobiographical work Rain Upon Godshill (1939) in the study there
- The property now consists of a six-bedroom house, a detached cottage, farm buildings and 130 acres of land
An historic country manor once bought by renowned author and playwright JB Priestley for £2,000 is now on the market for £3m.
The ‘An Inspector Calls’ author lived at Billingham Manor on the Isle of Wight in the after purchasing the 15 acres of land back in 1933.
He penned his autobiographical work Rain Upon Godshill (1939) in the study he had built there, although this extension is no longer there.
The estate itself also boasts a rich history dating back to the Domesday Book and had links to smugglers in the 17th century.
The property now consists of a Grade II Listed six-bedroom house, a detached cottage, farm buildings and 130 acres of land.
Pictured: The historic country manor once owned by renowned author and playwright JB Priestley is on the market for £3m
Pictured: Billingham Manor on the Isle of Wright he bought by Priestley for £2000 in 1933
Pictured: Priestley writing as a young man (left) and then later in life (right). His former home Billingham Manor is considered one of the Isle of Wight’s architectural gems
Billingham Manor is considered one of the Isle of Wight’s architectural gems and has a number of impressive features including a Queen Anne oak staircase and an oak panelled room with a rotating bookcase hidden by a sliding panel, which provides access to a passage under the manor that was believed to have been used by smugglers.
Owner ship of the Manor dates back to 1085 when it belonged to Williams Fitz Stur, before it was remodelled to its current state in about 1730 by politician Edward Worsley.
Priestley later lived at another property on the island, Brook Hill House, where he held concerts and entertained guests from the arts and science worlds.
The estate has 6,862 sq ft of accommodation with a large cellar, an entrance hall, drawing room, sitting room, billiard room and kitchen/breakfast room on the ground floor.
There are six bedrooms and three bathrooms on the first floor and the top floor has four large attic rooms, which are not currently habitable but could be converted subject to planning.
The house is in a secluded position, surrounded by its own land in an area of outstanding natural beauty and within a short drive of the island’s beaches.
The formal gardens include a walled garden and several ponds. There is also a stone terrace with stunning 180-degree views across estate land.
The house boasts a Queen Anne oak staircase and an oak panelled room with a rotating bookcase hidden by a sliding panel, which provides access to a passage under the manor that was believed to have been used by smugglers
The estate itself also boasts a rich history dating back to the Domesday Book and had links to smugglers in the 17th century
The estate has 6,862 sq ft of accommodation with a large cellar, an entrance hall, drawing room, sitting room, billiard room and kitchen/breakfast room on the ground floor
The formal gardens include a walled garden and several ponds. There is also a stone terrace with stunning 180-degree views across estate land
The house and gardens extend to 5.52 acres, there is also a two-bedroom thatched cottage that sits in its own plot of 0.24 of an acre.
It is surrounded by another 123 acres of a mixture of arable, pasture and woodland.
James Attrill, partner at BCM, who are selling the property, said: ‘Billingham Manor is a rare find – and the first time to the market for over 45 years.
‘The history is fascinating and the estate offers real privacy looking out over the prettiest of Island views.
‘The land and barns offer great scope for those wanting to enhance the estate further. It really is the complete package.’
What is the Domesday Book? William the Conqueror’s ‘Great Survey’ of England and Wales to work out how much he was owed in tax
The Domesday Book, pictured, is housed at the National Archives in Kew, London and is a record of the ‘Great Survey’ completed in 1086 by order of King William the Conqueror
The book is a manuscript record of the ‘Great Survey’ of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William the Conqueror.
The survey’s main purpose was to determine what taxes had been owed during the reign of King Edward the Confessor.
The assessors’ reckoning of a man’s holdings and their values, as recorded in Domesday Book, could not be appealed.
The name Domesday comes from Old English for Doomsday. The manuscript earned the fearful title because its decisions were unalterable – drawing comparisons with the Last Judgement.
The book, written in Medieval Latin, is held at The National Archives at Kew in London.
