Property description
The Miller's House forms the central and original part of Mill Farm being built in traditional style of brick, flint and pantiles. To the west of it's crow-stepped porch is the first entrance into The Barn and Stable Wing with a 30 foot living room providing a connection along the rear to the eastern Mill Wing.
The property could be used as three or four separate sections or in a number of different ways. It features large and light reception rooms that are ideal for entertaining along with a great number of bedrooms and washing facilities. The oil fired central heating runs under most of the solid ground floors and there is double glazing with plenty of glass doors and skylights.
The accommodation comprises:
BARN WING
PORCH 5' 9" x 5' 0" (1.75m x 1.52m) through double doors from south terrace. Bookshelves. Ceramic tiled floor. Steps down into
LIVING ROOM 29' 2" x 12' 1" (8.89m x 3.68m) Exposed timbers. Ceramic tiled floor with heating under. Stairs at east end to
GALLERY 12' 2" x 8' 10" (3.71m x 2.69m) currently used as a bedroom. Pine floorboards. Door from Living Room to
LOBBY 8' 9" x 2' 6" (2.67m x 0.76m) Ceramic tiled floor.
BEDROOM/STUDY 12' 0" x 9' 7" (3.66m x 2.92m) High level storage area. Ceramic tiled floor.
BATHROOM Panelled bath. Vanitory unit. Low suite W.C. High level cupboards. Hot water radiator / towel rail. Ceramic tiled floor. Door from Lobby into
STABLE WING
SITTING ROOM 28' 0" x 16' 0" (8.53m x 4.88m) Ceramic tiled floor with heating under. Glazed double doors onto north terrace.
3 BEDROOMS each about 12' x 8' 5" with ceramic tiled floor with heating under, Shower & W.C. beyond and stable doors to west terrace plus stairs to loft areas with low ceilings and pine floorboards. Door from Sitting Room into
KITCHEN 8' 0" x 7' 0" (2.44m x 2.13m) Modern wall and floor units. 1½ bowl sink unit. Diplomat cooker with hygena oven and extractor canopy. Hotpoint fridge. Ceramic tiled floor with heating under.
DINING ROOM 30' 4" x 15' 2" (9.25m x 4.62m) Beamed ceiling. Brick fireplace with carved and decorated surrounds. Bookshelves. Wall lights. Pine floorboards. Glazed door onto north terrace. Through to
THE MILLER'S HOUSE
FARMHOUSE KITCHEN 26' 10" x 8' 0" (8.18m x 2.44m) L-shaped around fully fitted modern Kitchen cum Breakfast Room with oak units and concealed lighting. Ceramic hob with stainless steel backplate and extractor canopy. Built-in oven. 1½ bowl sink. Integral fridge / freezer. Wall of cupboards at west end with hot water storage tank, water softener and dishwasher. Oak floor with heating under and open with
RECEPTION AREA 12' 0" x 15' 5" (3.66m x 4.7m) Brick fireplace with carved surround. Hot water radiator. Oak floor. Through to
Staircase Lobby. Oak floor.
ENTRANCE PORCH 6' 9" x 4' 1" (2.06m x 1.24m) Flint built with crow-stepped parapet. Slate floor. Lion knocker on inner door.
GROUND FLOOR BEDROOM 12' 0" x 10' 3" (3.66m x 3.12m) Brick fireplace with carved surround. Hot water radiator. Oak flooring.
Pine stairs with fitted carpet to
FIRST FLOOR LANDING Pine floorboards.
BEDROOM 12' 2" x 15' 6" (3.71m x 4.72m) Cast-iron fireplace. Hot water radiator. Pine floorboards.
BEDROOM 12' 3" x 10' 6" (3.73m x 3.2m) Cast-iron fireplace. Hot water radiator. Pine floorboards.
BATHROOM 8' 4" x 7' 9" (2.54m x 2.36m) Panelled bath with shower screen over. Washbasin. Low suite W.C. Hot water radiator. Pine floorboards.
MILL WING
ENTRANCE HALL 6' 8" x 3' 10" (2.03m x 1.17m) Pine floorboards.
BEDROOM/STUDY 7' 9" x 6' 9" (2.36m x 2.06m) Cupboards. Hot water radiator. Pine floorboards.
WET ROOM Shower. Washbasin. Low suite W.C. Hot water radiator / towel rail.
RECEPTION HALL 12' 10" x 12' 0" (3.91m x 3.66m) Beamed ceiling. Cupboard and shelves. Hot water radiator. Pine floorboards. Retractable ladder to
LOFT ROOM 12' 7" x 13' 0" (3.84m x 3.96m) Restricted headroom. Pine floorboards.
Part glazed double doors from Reception Hall into
SITTING ROOM 25' 0" x 13' 3" (7.62m x 4.04m) Triple aspect with exposed flint wall and French windows to south terrace. Bow window on south. Flagged floor with heating under.
GARDEN ROOM 17' 0" x 8' 10" (5.18m x 2.69m) open with and down steps from Reception Hall. Exposed roof timbers. Pine floorboards. Glazed panels and door onto north terrace.
THE COACH HOUSE To the north-east is a detached timber and pantiled building measuring about 40' x 18'. This offers further space with ample fenestration on three sides including behind three pairs of 'garage' doors on the east. Skylights afford more light on the first floor and services are connected.
A traditional cover stands over the ancient well to the west of the coach house with a recently landscaped pond beyond. A gravelled sweep runs from the drive and parking areas on the east of Mill Farm encircling a paved terrace within a shrub border along this north side. A crow-stepped flint gable leads onto the partly timber clad north-west and west elevations with the gravel drive continuing past the front (south) terrace back to the double 5-bar gates opposite the roadside entrance. New hedges have been laid along the frontage either side of these gates with drives running east and west on the outside. A row of eucalyptus trees lies to the south of Mill Farm with a set of steps leading down to the front terrace.
The embanked lawn here is interspersed with flowerbeds and shrub borders leading onto a large grassed area in the south-east sector of the grounds. In this corner is a door close to a 5-bar gate where the drive bends round between hedges to the eastern approach and parking area. It continues along the east side of the grounds with young softwood hedging on the inside and the ragged boundary hedge on the outside. A further grassed section interspersed with flowers and shrubs stretches around the pond while on the west side of Mill Farm is a formal garden area with rose and flowerbeds separated by paths and leading to a roundel sitting area under trees along the western hedge.
SITUATION Upper Gresham is the westernmost part of the parish half a mile from the main part of the village at the bottom of the hill. It is three miles inland from Sheringham which now has a Tescos supermarket to add to its golf course, swimming pool and other attractions. Trains connect from here to Norwich via Cromer which lies some six miles to the north-east and also has a (royal) golf course. En route you could pass through The Lion's Mouth which is a glade forming part of Felbrigg Great Wood next to the National Trust House and close to Norfolk's highest point at Roman Camp. A steam train runs up to the popular town of Holt lying in the westward direction of Blakeney and Cley-next-the-Sea. Norwich is not much more than twenty miles away to the south with the Norfolk Broads a similar distance to the south-east.
HISTORY Mill Farm is a centuries old property that can be identified on Faden's 1797 Map of Norfolk and is almost certainly considerably older in origin. At a height of approaching 300 feet above sea level the property is one of Norfolk's higher points up on the Cromer Ridge. This made it a suitable site for a windmill and a post mill was working here in pre-Victorian times. This wooden structure was located to the east of the current buildings and steam power was introduced until it ceased operation in the late nineteenth century. The post mill eventually blew down while the steam driven mill that worked alongside was demolished in the 1940s.
Mill Farm was once part of what was known as Gresham or Mill Common at the western end of the Felbrigg Estate. The enclosure map from the 1830s shows two acres here forming part of William Windham's Old Estate next to a field called Good for Nothing Close. The recent book 'A Scandal at Felbrigg' tells the sorry tale of how that part of the Windham Estate was squandered and eventually taken over by the National Trust. A descendant still owns the surrounding farmland with attractive woodland and far-reaching southerly views towards Norwich. A quarter of a mile to the west lies the remnants of the Erpingham Union Workhouse which was nicknamed Beckham Palace. This is en route for Holt five miles beyond where Gresham's School was founded by Sir John Gresham in the sixteenth century. Ancestors of Sir John owned the Gresham Estate and both village and school share the grasshopper symbol. At the opposite end of the village is the round towered flint church of All Saints opposite a thriving primary school together with a modern village hall and playing field close by.
VIEWING Strictly by appointment only through the sole agents