9 bedroom house

Grade II listed Newport House is one of Herefordshire's most important houses and is situated in a secluded and peaceful location in beautiful countryside. Bought in 2004 work has continued tirelessly to reinvigorate and refurbish the house and estate to its former glory. With amazing energy and a skilled workforce the house has been refurbished in particular the principal rooms. The estate has also been pieced back together so that the house now sits perfectly in the heart of 427 acres.

The estate sits in a stunning rural position about a mile from Almeley. It is well serviced with day to day facilities in the market town of Kington with further opportunities in Hay-on-Wye, Leominster and the Cathedral City of Hereford, just 15 miles to the south. Hereford provides good shopping and recreational facilities along with train services into London Paddington from 2hours 45 minutes.

There are excellent schools in the area including Hereford Cathedral School, Moore Park and Abberley, as well as those around Malvern and Cheltenham.

This particularly beautiful part of Herefordshire comprises wooded rolling farmland with the Wye Valley to the west and the beautiful Black Mountains in the distance. The area offers a special rural quality of life whilst having a diverse selection of events and opportunities in the vicinity including the literary festival at Hay-on-Wye, the theatre at Malvern and the gourmet centre of Ludlow, all within easy reach.

Newport House has a fascinating history and has been an important country property since medieval times. The place name, then 'Neuport' has been recorded as early as 1254. Much of the earliest history has been linked, some 600 years ago, to Sir John Oldcastle, a Proto-Protestant hero and leader of the Lollards. Before his death in 1417, he was friends with Henry V and the character of Falstaff in Shakespeare's play was called Oldcastle after him. He certainly had lands in the Almeley area and hence the link.

Fast forward two and half centuries and there is the first sketched record of a house at Newport in 1683, although the property already had been owned by the Pember family since the 1580's.

In 1712, the estate was sold to the Foley family of the Great Witley Estate near Worcester, and later Stoke Edith to the east of Hereford. Given their ownership of these fine houses, there is no surprise that the Foleys, for their second son, rebuilt the rambling medieval and Tudor house at Newport in circa 1715 into what we know as the house today.

It is believed that much of the gardens including the walled garden, were created and landscaped in the 1760's under the guidance of John Bach.

In 1863, Newport was bought by James Gibson-Watt, grandson of James Watt, the famous engineer and pioneer of steam power. In Gibson-Watt's 10 year ownership, he made many of the improvements including extending the house to the north with its porch and entrance hall along with the double height staircase hall. He also made major improvements to the gardens under the guidance of the foremost landscape architect William Andrews Nesfield. The tazza by the lake is similar to one of his designs at Regent's Park in London. Gibson-Watt only lived at the house for 10 years before letting the house until its sale in 1909 to James Collett-Mason. It was during this time that the tenant, Rev Richard Vigors, amazingly built the beautiful existing stable block and glass houses in the kitchen garden.

Following the present owner's acquisition of Newport House in 2004 with a much reduced acreage of just 28 acres, they acquired the walled garden in 2006 followed by the woodland and farm land three years later.

Despite the extensive works of the previous owners in 2000- 2001 (re-roofing, rewiring the whole house, installing new heating and new bathrooms), the current owners created a new team including a new Head Gardener and Project Manager who set about a long list of projects that have significantly improved and enhanced Newport House, restoring it to its former glory.

The house is approached up a long tree lined drive giving glimpses of the striking southerly façade of the house. The drive sweeps round to a gravelled parking area to the north of the house with its pillared porch that leads into the elaborate main hall with magnificent oak staircase and gallery beyond.

One of the main features of the house is the splendid enfilade of principal reception rooms along the southern façade of the house with their sash windows taking full advantage of the views over the gardens and lake beyond. With their high ceilings, the large family kitchen, leads through to the drawing room, library, dining room and music room - of particular note is the very fine new wood cabinetry and flooring through these rooms.

To the rear of the house is the Georgian kitchen, estate office, billiard room and study.

The beautiful staircase leads to the galleried landing off which are four large principal bedroom suites along with a laundry and ironing room. In addition on the first floor are 2 one bed flats in the two wings. There are a further 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms on the second floor.













Gardens and Grounds

The listed gardens and grounds are a spectacular feature of Newport House with your eye being drawn over the terrace and ha-ha between yew hedging and immaculate lawns down to the beautiful stream fed 4 acre lake with walks around.

The current owners have continued the work initiated by the previous owner who was a garden designer and created much

of what is embedded today. They have recently redesigned the beautiful parterres that frame the house perfectly.

One of the more recent projects in the garden is the fine brick built dovecote that was created in 2016 to cover the pump house above the bore hole - there are historical paintings showing a dovecote in the 1710's

The Walled Kitchen Garden

The 2 1/2 acre Georgian kitchen garden had probably not been fully productive since the 1940's and having acquired it in November 2006, a major restoration project began. The walls - almost a quarter of a mile of them - were rebuilt and repointed, the Victorian paths uncovered, the glasshouses rebuilt, the entire garden cultivated and finally in 2014 the former Head Gardener's cottage was restored. The latter is now a charming one bedroom cottage let for holiday rentals.

The walled garden is spectacular and to see a working kitchen garden of this size and quality is rare and a very special sight.

The Clock Tower

Situated just to the east of the house, the Clock Tower had been converted to a 'private pub' called The Running Spaniel with a large entertaining room, kitchen and 2 cloakrooms. On the first floor, with separate access, is an excellent self-contained flat with open plan sitting room and kitchen and 2 ensuite bedrooms. The flat is currently vacant.

Garage Block

To the north of the house is a timber framed garage block with a machinery store, open fronted garaging for 4 cars & storage above.



The Victorian Stable Block

Just beyond the Clock Tower is the very fine Victorian quadrangle stable block comprising 11 loose boxes, a tack and feed room and workshop. In addition are the following residential units:

3 bedroom Stable Cottage 1 bedroom Corner Flat

3 bedroom Stable Flat

1 bedroom Courtyard Flat.

Further Farmhouses, Cottages and Buildings

1. The Beeches

2. Highmoor Cottage and Estate Yard

3. Old Castle Farm

Old Castle Annexe and Buildings

4. Station View Farmhouse

5. New House Farm and Buildings.

6. The Parks



The Land and Woodland

The house is surrounded by beautiful expanses of ancient parkland with stunning mature specimen trees. Close to the house are a series of post and rail paddocks for horses and livestock.

To the north of the house is 90 acre Highmoor Wood with a well laid out network of rides giving good access throughout for walking and riding. The woodland has been well managed and attracts an abundance of wildlife.

There is also a block of woodland below the lake with the overflow stream meandering down the wooded valley.

Beyond the woodland, the estate is all down to pasture of which there is approximately 177 acres either in hand or let under a Farm Business Tenancy.

The remainder is split between Old Castle Farm and New House Farm under Agricultural Holdings Act tenancies.

Marketed by: Jonathan Bengough, Leominster