Phillips
Stubbs is selling a Grade II-listed heavily timbered house with
16th-century origins, four bedrooms, leaded-light windows and crown post
roof for £1.4 million. It lies in the heart of the Conservation Area, along
from the famous Mermaid Inn, which is one of England’s oldest and is stuffed
with four posters and secret passageways. Turn the corner and there is Lamb
House, home of E F Benson when he was writing his novels, and earlier by
Henry James, who wrote three masterpieces there, The Wings of a Dove, The
Ambassadors and The Golden Bowl. It is now in the hands of the National
Trust.

GOLD HILL, SHAFTESBURY, DORSET

So romantic, so steep, flanked by thatch and brick and quintessentially
English, no wonder Gold Hill was the backdrop for that famous Hovis
advertisement (directed by Ridley Scott). It also starred in the 1967 film
of Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd. “The value increases as you go
up the hill,” says Sam Lillington of Connells.
“There is a Hovis loaf monument at the top and a very good restaurant, The
Salt Cellar, with fantastic views over the Blackmore Vale.”

Many houses are bought by weekenders who don’t mind the lack of parking or the
sloping gardens. Connells is selling for £235,000 a three-bedroom brick semi
at the bottom. On the other side of town it might be worth £35,000 less. At
the top of the hill is a museum, and beyond the historic walls that enclose
it is Shaftesbury Abbey, built by Alfred the Great.

BROAD STREET, LUDLOW, SHROPSHIRE

“Broad Street is without doubt one of Ludlow’s finest addresses,” says Helen
Lowery of Strutt
Parker.

For Pevsner it was one of the most memorable streets in England. “At the top,”
says Lowery, “is the 18th-century Buttercross, built as a classical town
hall. At the bottom is the Broadgate, a medieval gate with an 18th-century
castellated house above. Properties on this street are often admired and
therefore highly desirable, so tend to sell well and quickly.”

She is currently selling at £300,000 a four-storey building on the street,
which has been used as offices but which could be converted into a stylish
town house.

The town heaves with shops promoting locally sourced and artisan foods, so you
can live like a king on pork pies, black pudding and handmade breads, or eat
out in the Michelin-starred restaurants.

RAVENSDOWN, BERWICK-UPON-TWEED, NORTHUMBERLAND

A polite Georgian street with the Nicholas Hawksmoor-designed military
barracks and parade ground at the top and massive Elizabethan defensive
walls at the rear, Ravensdowne represents all the charming contradictions of
the town. These days it is utterly gentrified, but over the centuries it has
been taken and retaken by the Scots. The massive medieval embankments were
the most advanced defensive military technology of the time and are so big
you can go for walks on them. Barbara Pentecost of Smiths
Gore, who is selling a Grade II-listed house at £225,000, says
Ravensdown attracts a good clutch of ex-clergy, artists and musicians as
well as holiday home owners. You can emerge in the morning and sniff sea
salt and kippers in the air as you walk along the walls and drink in the
view of the Tweed estuary, the beaches, and across to the
red-and-white-lighthouse and Lindisfarne in the distance.

CHURCH HILL, KERSEY, SUFFOLK

Church Hill begins at the Church of St Mary at the top of the hill and drops
down to the ford called The Splash at the bottom. Along the way it passes
pink thatched cottages and wobbly timber houses before veering off into an
elbow called The Green. At the bottom is The Bell Inn, a pub that locals
love, and the Church of England primary school, which Ofsted has rated
outstanding.

A classic Grade II-listed village house called Green Gables is for sale in The
Green, with early 15th-century origins, exposed beams and studwork and
gorgeous gardens. “The prettiness of Church Hill carries on into The Green,
which is a huddle of cottages,” says Caroline Edwards of Carter
Jonas, who is selling Green Gables at £650,000. She says prices here
can be more than in the star Suffolk village of Lavenham because it is
closer to commuter stations, yet it doesn’t get mobbed by tourists in the
same way.

HIGH STREET, STOCKBRIDGE, HAMPSHIRE

It might be small, but it is extremely smart. The River Test glints with trout
while the old Grosvenor Hotel, together with the Houghton Club, the oldest
fishing club in the country, front it rather grandly. The Thyme Tides
deli, bistro and fishmonger caters for young trendies who have moved out
from London, and the whole place has become a haven for foodies.

Set back from the street is Old Church House, a gem of a converted church with
three bedrooms, minstrel’s gallery, office in the garden and decking over
the river, being sold by Knight
Frank at £1.175 million. “There can’t be many prettier streets than
Stockbridge High Street,” says Tom Wood of Knight Frank. “It is surrounded
by beautiful countryside with the River Test funnelling through it. There
are shops which sell fishing tackle, fine butchers and dealers in game.”

LOWER CASTLE ROAD, ST MAWES, CORNWALL

Some of the colour-washed houses in Lower Castle Road have front-row seats to
the sea with views towards St Anthony’s Lighthouse and Falmouth Bay. Further
along the road is St Mawes Castle, while around the headland is St Just in
Roseland church, which Sir John Betjeman described as “the most beautiful on
earth”. The seascape is full of locally-built boats tugging in the wind,
and crab boats returning with their catch. In summer the passenger ploughs
to Falmouth and back.

At The Moorings you cross the road to reach the terraced gardens with steps to
the water and the foreshore (which comes with the house). St Mawes is known
for Olga Polizzi’s Hotel Tresanton and Idle Rocks, which attract the smart
set. The Moorings has four bedrooms and is priced by Savills
at £2 million. Jonathan Cunliffe, who is handling the sale, says the road
commands a premium of 15 per cent to 20 per cent, plus another 30 per cent
to 40 per cent at the water’s edge.

THE CIRCUS, BATH

The residents of this world-famous address owe their splendid surroundings to
two men, John Wood the Elder and his son John Wood the Younger. The Elder,
described by Pevsner as “one of the outstanding architects of his day”, had
the drive and vision to change his city through classically-inspired
architecture. The resulting crescents and squares have made Bath a World
Heritage Site.

The Circus was designed by the father who never saw it completed – it was
finished by the son between 1755 and 1767. The idea came from the Colosseum
in Rome. A recently restored five-bedroom Grade I-listed stone house is on
at £4.25 million through Savills.
Luke Brady, who is selling, believes the premium for The Circus is 20 per
cent above the rest of central Bath.

STEEP HILL, LINCOLN

Spectacularly atmospheric and ancient, this street is a stiff, cobbled climb
to Lincoln Cathedral, a one-in-seven gradient at its steepest. It is flanked
by Norman houses and clusters of drunken medieval buildings with timbering
and half-jetties, all in the shadow of the cathedral. There is a wonderful
mix of shops, tea rooms and restaurants, designer boutiques, antiquarian
books and antique shops. A four-bedroom house is for sale through Pygott
Crone at £314,950.

THE HILL, BURFORD, OXFORDSHIRE

One of the prettiest towns in the Cotswolds is Burford, on the River Windrush.
The view from the top of The Hill is a great treat. The town was ranked
sixth in Forbes magazine’s list of “Europe’s most idyllic places to live”
and is the setting for Cynthia Harnett’s children’s book The Wool-Pack.

The four-arch medieval bridge and the water meadows haven’t changed in
centuries. It was after a visit to the town in 1876 that William Morris
rushed off to found the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.

On The Hill is The Old Court, which was built as the magistrates’ court in
1869 by William Wilkinson (who is best known for the Randolph Hotel in
Oxford). It has four bedrooms, a Grade II listing and is priced at £1 
million by Jackson-Stops
Staff.