Detached house for sale in The Moor, Carlton, Bedfordshire MK43

Picture-perfect detached and thatched cottage - in prime riverside village

A C17th, 3-bedroom, quintessential chocolate box cottage, set in the heart of one of Bedfordshire’s best villages. Recently re-thatched and with hollyhock-filled gardens wrapping themselves around the cottage and its garden room, it’s the first opportunity for over a quarter of a century to own this wonderful piece of historic rural England. And it might provide an opportunity too for an exciting extension.

Surrounded by beautiful countryside, away from the constant traffic noise of any main road, the lovely North Bedfordshire village of Carlton is nevertheless within easy reach of good road and rail networks and has a great bus service to boot. The County town of Bedford, with its fast trains to London in under 40 minutes and its world-renowned Harpur Trust private schools, is just 15 minutes away.

Yet the village also stands apart for its brilliant little shop and post office, not one but two great, freehouse pubs, each offering something different, its thousand-year-old church and its outstanding primary school. The catchment secondary school is in nearby Sharnbrook. Thriving allotments are a few wheelbarrow lengths along the Moor from Wychtree, with super playing fields, which were left to the children of the village, a hop, skip and a jump further on. Moreover, the village hall hosts all manner of events and societies for the friendly community.

Play squash in Carlton, cricket and tennis in the adjoining village of Harrold, work out at the Paula Radcliffe Sports Centre in Sharnbrook. Your dog will love to lead you over the ancient bridge across the beautiful River Great Ouse to the Country Park, with its lovely lakes and café, and scamper ahead on a plethora of wonderful circular walks in the delightful countryside. Home and village stand out from the crowd.

About the property

A beautiful magnolia blossoms under the protective boughs of the majestic old sycamores, two wise owls gaze down from the gorgeous new thatch, summer hollyhocks, alive with busy bees, stand to attention around the pond to welcome you home.

An historic home that has many stories to tell of generations of comings and goings. Let yourself into the hall through the wonderful, old oak door beneath the pretty timber and thatched porch, or into the kitchen through a door which once enclosed the vestry of Odell’s Grade i-listed church.

In bygone days, it was open here for carts to be pulled in undercover. In your mind’s eye, you can see the horses being unhitched and led into the stable, now a bedroom adjacent to the downstairs bathroom, which is currently used as an office. Imagine all those years ago the construction of the cottage, timbers joined together with precision, the beautiful oak beam of the kitchen cut from the same tree trunk as the one above the shower – you might consider reconfiguring both rooms to gain space and height.

Whilst a beam or two may force you to duck or grouse, and the landing lead you to breathe in, you can unexpectedly stand tall and spread out in many parts of the house, not least in the two lovely upstairs bedrooms, with their vaulted ceilings and deep, low sills, from where you can contemplate the gardens, adding to the huge character that’s all around you..

In what is now a spacious but so cosy sitting room, with its lower, beautifully beamed ceiling and inglenook fireplace, the C17th family would have cooked and bustled about. Water was brought from the well outside to the scullery, now your breakfast and dining room. And they wouldn’t have had a garden room to relax or play in then as you have today.

As with the house, you’ll no doubt put your stamp on the garden depending on your needs. With oodles of space for parking, for working and playing, for pretty beds and borders, and for relaxing in the summer’s sun, there is after all everything you could need – even a sink and tap for your dog to have a wash and brush up after a muddy walk down by the river. Delightful!