Manor home from Thomas Hardy The Trumpet-Major being sold for £3.25million

Charming Poxwell Manor was featured as the home of heroine Anne Garland in love story The Trumpet-Major
Novel was seen by critics as attempt to repeat success of his most famous novel, Far From The Madding Crowd
The 17th century house is set in beautiful walled gardens and comes with a swimming pool and 10 acres of land
Grade I-listed property, which also boasts tennis courts and a helipad, is now on the market for £3.25million

Stephanie Linning for MailOnline

Published:
11:26 GMT, 4 May 2015

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Updated:
12:23 GMT, 4 May 2015

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With ivy-covered walls and idyllic gardens, it is little wonder this Grade I-listed property inspired romance in one of Britain’s great Victorian writers.

Poxwell Manor, near Dorchester, Dorset, was featured in Thomas Hardy’s The Trumpet-Major as the home of Anne Garland, the novel’s heroine.

And now the 17th century manor house, along with its 10 acres of land and a three-bedroom cottage, is on the market for £3.25million – giving buyers a chance to own their own piece of literary history.

Idyllic: Poxwell Manor, pictured, along with its 10 acres of land and separate three-bedroom cottage, is on the market for £3.25million

Grand: This elegant bedroom, one of nine in the Grade I-listed manor house, boasts two chandeliers and is flooded with natural light

Character: The current owner has chosen to keep a number of the home’s charming historical features, including the kitchen’s exposed beams

Inviting: The manor boasts six reception rooms, including the one pictured above, which offers plenty of space to entertain guests

Tranquil: Surrounded by flowers, a pond forms the centrepiece of one of the landscaped gardens that surround the 17th century home

The nine-bedroom house, built in the early 1600s, offers views of landscaped gardens, complete with lavender walks and rose-covered pergolas.

Hardy used the home in 1880 novel The Trumpet-Major. The story, set in Weymouth during the Napoleonic wars, follows Anne as she is pursued by three suitors.

It was seen by some critics as an attempt to recreate the success he had experienced six years earlier with Far From The Madding Crowd.

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The writer set all of his novels in a fictional area of the south and southwest of England in an area he called Wessex, which covered Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, Hampshire and Berkshire. He based the settings in his works on real buildings, villages and towns but renamed them.

As well as the historical features that would have attracted Hardy, the manor boasts a number of modern touches including a swimming pool, tennis courts and even a helipad.

Knight Frank, which is marketing the property, says it offers everything a homeowner could want from a manor house.

Sprawling: The impressive grounds boast two lakes and a stream, pictured. There are also tennis courts and a swimming pool

Picturesque: The manor house offers views of landscaped gardens, complete with lavender walks and rose-covered pergolas

Dream-like: Historic Poxwell Manor, near Dorchester, Dorset, was featured in Thomas Hardy’s The Trumpet-Major. Right, the author

Dining al fresco: There is plenty of space to entertain outside. Above, the gardens back on to some of the property’s 10 acres of land

James McKillop from Knight Frank said: ‘It was the setting for the manor house in Hardy’s The Trumpet-Major.

‘The house has strong links to Hardy but it’s one of those houses, because of its location, that has a romantic pull anyway.

‘It’s a highly sought-after house on the aesthetics alone. The gardens create a really special setting for the house and the houses from that era – early to mid 1600s – come with a huge provenance.

‘The gardens are just incredible. It’s very traditional – walled garden, lavender walks, rose-covered pergolas. And the house itself has a lovely outlook, beautiful views.

‘It has a lot of amenity value, like a helicopter pad and a cottage. It has everything people look for in a manor house.

‘Lots of television series are romanticising the Dorset countryside at the moment. It has always been a highly regarded and sought-after county anyway, mainly because it’s slightly off the beaten track.

‘There’s lots of little hamlets and villages, the countryside here is second to none and this house is not that far from the sea.’