Even among listed properties there can be few with a history as quirky at The Fort in Bury St Edmunds.

The grade II listed house was built in 1805 as the governor’s house of Bury St Edmunds’ prison in Sicklesmere Road. The prison was a panopticon design with cell blocks and exercise yards radiating out from the octagonal Fort.

The Fort and the Gatehouse on Sicklesmere Road are all that remain of the prison.

The house has been improved with high quality, sympathetic new windows of the first floor and basement.

The agents Bedfords says the basement, ground and second floors still require refurbishment and the house may be suitable for dividing into multiple occupation.

An unusual feature is its flat roof with its timberframed 37ft windowed room offering views across Bury.

Most rooms open off a hexagonal central room on each floor. This hexagonal space forms the reception hall on the ground floor, a dining hall on the first floor and a landing on the second.

With the exception of the laundry room, all the rooms are of irregular shapes.

Opening off the central hexagon on the ground floor is a 22ft by 16ft 10in sitting room, with exposed floorboards, moulded cornicing, decorative panelling and a fireplace.

It also has a door to a garden room.

Going clockwise, the next room is a15ft 2in by 14ft 7in bedroom with built-in dressing table and wardrobe and an en suite bathroom with shower over the bath.

The kitchen is 14ft by 12ft 5in with wall and base units an a built-in gas hob and oven.

The last ground floor room is the study at 16ft 11in by 16ft 11in.

The basement houses another kitchen, a large workshop with vaulted ceiling and two bedrooms, one 15ft 8in by 12ft 5in and the other 16ft 7in by 15ft 7in.

The dining hall on the first floor is about 17ft by 17ft, with walk-in storage.

Off that is a sitting room plus a kitchen -breakfast room with fitted five-ring Wolf induction hob and extra large oven, Meile microwave and a dishwasher.

There are two more bedrooms on this floor, a family bathroom with free-standing bath and separate shower cubicle, plus a sunroom overlooking the garden.

On the second floor are two studio rooms, one with a kitchenette, plus a laundry room, sitting room with kitchenette and a 17ft 8in by 17ft 7in bedroom wish washbasin and built-in storage.

The garden offers good privacy thanks to mature hedges. It is mostly laid to lawn with a variety of specimen trees. It also has raised decking, a summerhouse and covered storage.

Guide price: £795,000

Agents: Bedfords, Bury St Edmunds, 01284 769999