Old Church House is a stunning converted church in the pretty village of Ecchinswell. Full of period features including a cathedral ceiling and rustic wooden doors, the house offers well balanced accommodation and the ‘wow’ factor. Overlooking open fields, this house presents a wonderful opportunity to live the village idyll.

Accommodation

Set opposite the village pond, Old Church House is striking for its charm and character. The original wooden church door leads to a hallway, then on to the kitchen/living area. This large, open plan room has custom made wooden units and a peninsular overlooking the living area which would work equally well as a dining space.

Spanning the back of the house, the dual aspect sitting and formal dining room has a spectacular double height cathedral ceiling, a large open fireplace and double doors opening to the rear patio and garden. This room is as wonderfully warm and cosy as it is grand.

Completing the ground floor there’s a study, w.c. and utility room opening on to the side driveway.

Stairs lead from the kitchen/living area, past a double height lancet window. The first floor has 4 double bedrooms and a family bathroom. The main bedroom features a large lancet window alongside a spiral staircase leading to a mezzanine level, ideal as a dressing or office area and an en-suite bathroom.

The other 3 bedrooms are served by a family bathroom.

Outside, there’s a horseshoe driveway and a longer side drive leading to a double garage. The back garden has a patio area directly off the sitting and formal dining room with the rest laid to lawn with a wonderful outlook over the fields beyond, part of the 5000 acre estate owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The garden is bordered by mature bushes and trees offering privacy.

Old Church House is not listed. Windows are double glazed. Fuel type is LPG.

Location

Ecchinswell (pronounced etch-in-swell) is an idyllic village in north Hampshire, alongside the setting for Watership Down. Little traffic passes through the village so it’s quiet and safe with a strong sense of community.

The village centre includes a well-used village hall, primary school (rated “good”) and The Royal Oak pub. Set alongside a stream and serving “carefully crafted unpretentious dishes”, they also offer a take-away service.

The village hall hosts regular community events including quiz nights, craft events, coffee mornings, pilates and barn dances. Just outside is a children’s play park and football fields.

Ecchinswell is a conservation area, defined as an area of special architectural or historical interest the character of which it is desirable to preserve and enhance.

Just south of Ecchinswell, in Sydmonton, is Nuthanger Farm where Watership Down is set. Passing through here is the 70 mile Wayfarer’s Walk which runs from Emsworth Harbour to Inkpen near Hungerford in West Berkshire. The walks around Ecchinswell provide wonderful views of the rambling countryside, a real treat for walkers, joggers and cyclists.

Kingsclere is 3 miles away with a choice of pubs serving well rated food and several convenience stores. Highclere Castle is 5 miles away. Thanks to Downton Abbey, this wonderful stately home is now firmly on the global tourist map. For locals, the Battle Proms picnic concert is a spectacular day out with air displays and music.

The attractive market town of Newbury is 5 miles away, delightfully compact, with shops, cinema, theatre, bars and restaurants all within a 10 minute walk of each other. Markets are held several times a week in the town square, along with feature and seasonal markets.

For food shopping, Newbury has a Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, M&S Food Hall, Tesco, Lidl and Aldi. Newbury mainline train station reaches Paddington in as little as 43 minutes.

The Corn Exchange Theatre has a full schedule of plays, cinema nights and family events. The town square plays host to several events each year such as a Christmas parade, fire festival and art shows which are well attended by local residents. The Watermill theatre, in a picture postcard village setting, hosts regular plays and events. Newbury Racecourse, along with regular horse racing, features big name concerts and seasonal events.

Drive in any direction from Ecchinswell and you’ll pass pretty villages and quintessential country pubs with fires roaring in the winter and views over the surrounding countryside.

Seller Insight

We fell in love with Old Church House immediately, who wouldn’t?! It’s such a special property – full of history and character and the high ceiling in the sitting room in particular won us over, it’s spectacular!

The layout is flexible so we could make every room what we wanted to suit our needs as our family matured. We also have a lot of storage which is invaluable. It’s worked so well for us we’ve been here 33 years!

The sitting room is definitely our favourite room, we spend most of our time here. The open view is beautiful, as are the wooden floors and fireplace. It’s warm in winter and cool in summer so it’s always comfortable here. There are traditional wooden features throughout the house which add to the character, you can’t help but love it.

Our little patio is great, it’s a private spot surrounded by roses, which I planted when we moved in. It’s a very peaceful, beautiful place.

Ecchinswell is very quiet and safe, we’ve had a very peaceful, happy life here. The villagers are friendly and there are so many activities for children and adults, we’ve enjoyed quite a few local events over the years, when our children were young and now that we’re retired.

The local pub serves great food and has a lovely setting. Further afield, we visit the Dew Pond for special occasions. For shopping. Kingsclere is good for essentials – they have a great butcher. For bigger shopping trips we go to Newbury, although we tend to have our groceries delivered because it’s so convenient.

There are lovely walks around here with plenty of public footpaths. We’ve enjoyed walks over the years. It really is a beautiful setting with walks in all directions.

We’re now at a time in our lives when we need to downsize, so it’s time to let the house go. We’re ready for that and know that whoever lives here will be so happy, hopefully for as long as we’ve been here.

Transport links

Road

A339: 2.8 miles

A34: 4 miles

M4: 9.4 miles

Train

Newbury: 5 miles, reaching London Paddington in as little as 43 mins

Thatcham: 5 miles, reaching London Paddington in 43 mins

Overton: 8 miles, reaching London Waterloo in 54 mins

Basingstoke: 12 miles, reaching London Waterloo in 44 mins