Friday, February 14, 2025

Buy Bargain Historic House Where King Charles I Slept For Just £50,000

Grade II* listed timber framed house where King Charles I supposedly slept in 1645 in Herefordshire for sale for the surprising sum of just £50,000 in spite of having been valued at £295,000 in 2022 – BUT there are more than a few catches

Dame Vanessa Redgrave lived in Bromyard in eastern Herefordshire with her family during the East End Blitz before returning to London in 1943 whilst Garrick Roberts of The Boomtown Rats resided there until his death in November 2022. Now, a timber framed Grade II* listed house where King Charles I was “thought to have slept” on the night of 3rd September 1645 in this market town is up for sale for the surprisingly low sum of just £50,000.

 

Offered previously for £180,000 or a sum 72% higher in October 2024 after the death of its longtime owner in what became an aborted attempt at a hammer down, that sale was seemingly thwarted by the title deeds to the property having been “lost.”

 

The house had been owned by a Miss Havisham-esque character described as having “a wicked sense of humour” by some and “unpleasant and bossy” by others named Anne Marie Sherwood until her death in May 2024. Now, The Tower House, Bromyard will return for a second attempt at auction by Savills on 12th February online and via telephone bidding.

 

Bromyard is a town described by ‘Britain Express’ as “attractive” and dating to the 9th century. It “boasts a wonderful collection of historic buildings, many of them timber-framed” and “suffered during the Civil War when Prince Rupert, leading the Royalist army, pillaged Bromyard and Ledbury and ‘plundered every parish and house.’” Of The Tower House – pictured here in 1965 – they note: “Another picturesque ‘black and white’ building. King Charles I is said to have stayed at Tower Hill House in March 1645 on his way to Hereford. The house would have been quite modern at the time; it was built in 1630, a date that appears on a pendant under the gable. The house features beautiful decorative panelling around the gable and on moulded barge boards under the eaves.”
Bromyard is a town described by ‘Britain Express’ as “attractive” and dating to the 9th century. It “boasts a wonderful collection of historic buildings, many of them timber-framed” and “suffered during the Civil War when Prince Rupert, leading the Royalist army, pillaged Bromyard and Ledbury and ‘plundered every parish and house.’” Of The Tower House – pictured here in 1965 – they note: “Another picturesque ‘black and white’ building. King Charles I is said to have stayed at Tower Hill House in March 1645 on his way to Hereford. The house would have been quite modern at the time; it was built in 1630, a date that appears on a pendant under the gable. The house features beautiful decorative panelling around the gable and on moulded barge boards under the eaves.”
The property – which is now covered in scaffolding – is listed on Companies House as the address of a company named S. Hill & Company Limited (incorporated in 1926) and its company secretary Miss Anne Marie Sherwood (born 1952, died 2024). The private limited company which describes it nature of business as “other letting and operating of own or leased real estate,” which has a registered office address at St Ethelbert House, Ryelands Street, Hereford, England, HR4 0LA is listed as having its accounts overdue and confirmation statement overdue also. Miss Sherwood was said to own 75% or more of the shares in the business and on 9th June 2022 described The Tower House as the “principal place of business.” In the same document, these accounts declared that “included within the net book value of land and buildings above is £295,000 (2021 - £270,000) in respect of freehold land and buildings.”
The property – which is now covered in scaffolding – is listed on Companies House as the address of a company named S. Hill & Company Limited (incorporated in 1926) and its company secretary Miss Anne Marie Sherwood (born 1952, died 2024). The private limited company which describes it nature of business as “other letting and operating of own or leased real estate,” which has a registered office address at St Ethelbert House, Ryelands Street, Hereford, England, HR4 0LA is listed as having its accounts overdue and confirmation statement overdue also. Miss Sherwood was said to own 75% or more of the shares in the business and on 9th June 2022 described The Tower House as the “principal place of business.” In the same document, these accounts declared that “included within the net book value of land and buildings above is £295,000 (2021 – £270,000) in respect of freehold land and buildings.”
Surprisingly, the interior (photographed prior to the keys being lost) seems to retain plenty of character.
Surprisingly, the interior (photographed prior to the keys being lost) seems to retain plenty of character.
Original features such as this fireplace (if they still remain) clearly will add to the appeal of The Tower House. Given the number of bedrooms and the ancillary accommodation in the former coach house, this could make for a great Airbnb.
Original features such as this fireplace (if they still remain) clearly will add to the appeal of The Tower House. Given the number of bedrooms and the ancillary accommodation in the former coach house, this could make for a great Airbnb.
A bedroom with a four poster bed is illustrative of the charm that remained in the house until the death of Miss Sherwood.
A bedroom with a four poster bed is illustrative of the charm that remained in the house until the death of Miss Sherwood.

The building is described as “an attractive and historic timber framed Grade II* listed end of terrace house, built in 1630” by the firm. They share that the 4-bedroom, 4-reception room, 3-storey building comes with a 3-bedroom detached former coach house conversion and stands on a total site of 0.25 acres.

 

On the surface this sounds like a very tempting prospect at a very low price, but tellingly as with other bargain basement properties we’ve featured like a £1 cottage in the West Midlands, noting just a few of the further problems with this historic home, Savills add:

 

“Please note there will be no viewings of [The] Tower House because of the property’s deteriorated condition and the fact that there are no keys. Locks will need to be changed after completion at the buyers on expense. There will be partial viewings of the ground floor of the Coach House only at the viewers own risk. Please note the photos were taken in June 2024 and the property has now been cleared and external scaffolding erected.”

 

It seems that the “real character of Bromyard” Miss Sherwood left “the roof open fully to the weather for years” and this “architectural treasure was destroyed by neglect and greed,” if critical locals who took to Facebook to express their opinion in late 2024 are to be believed.

 

A leading property finance expert confirmed to The Steeple Times today “that a notice has been attached detailing an HMRC liability regarding inheritance tax” after the property was transferred last November to Wilsons Trust Corporation Limited, the administrator of Anne Marie Sherwood deceased. A valuation of £180,000 was given for the property at that time whilst in 2022, Miss Sherwood’s “principal place of business” was listed as having a value of £295,000 – 83% more than the current 2025 asking price – in other accounts on the Companies House register.

 

Unsurprisingly, Savills don’t add anything to their advertisement about the no doubt noisy Bromyard Bypass road that adjoins the plot either. According to The Francis Firth Collection: An Historical Photographic Archive of National Importance, this road “cut off” The Tower House from the town centre in the 1970s after its construction.

 

Further photographs of the house follow at the end of the article.

 

Editor’s note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples and watch his shows on YouTube at @mjs2781/streams.

 

A message from our editorial team – Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus and the cost-of-living crisis impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by supporting our work via Patreon.

 

The Names & Numbers – The Tower House (also known as ‘Tower Hill House’), 1 Tower Hill, Bromyard, Herefordshire, HR7 4DF, United Kingdom

12th February 2025

To be offered for sale by Savills at a “remote bidding only” auction with a guide price of £50,000 ($61,600, €60,100 or درهم226,300).

 

The agency, whose director Paul Mooney is the registered point of contact, noted:

 

“Please note there will be no viewings of Tower House because of the property’s deteriorated condition and the fact that there are no keys. Locks will need to be changed after completion at the buyers on expense. There will be partial viewings of the ground floor of the Coach House only at the viewers own risk. Please note the photos were taken in June 2024 and the property has now been cleared and external scaffolding erected.”

 

18th November 2024

Valued at £180,000 ($221,800, €216,300 or درهم814,600) at the time of a purchase by Wilson’s Trust Corporation Limited, an entity that is the administrator of Anne Marie Sherwood deceased.

 

Of this, a leading property finance expert told The Steeple Times: “The title deeds have been lost. There is notice that there will possibly an HMRC liability regarding inheritance tax. Apparently, the property was removed from the last auction prior to the date. Possibly a low value, but given it will be a messy purchase given the deeds are lost, this is definitely a book plot. It is most likely Miss Sherwood’s affairs were not in any kind of order.”

 

19th October 2024

Withdrawn from an auction by Savills as “probate didn’t complete” according to a Facebook post, though one commentator added that a “Mr Jon Hitchings has purchased it for a rainy day project.” At the time the auction was announced, the guide price was £180,000 ($221,800, €216,300 or درهم814,600).

 

Others, also on Facebook, made various observations about the history of the building. Asides from comments of “money pit” and “I believe there’s been a quote of £500,000 ($616,100, €600,800 or درهم2.3 million) for the roof alone,” Karen Rock observed: “The owner told me English Heritage has offered to restore the house, but wanted to have occasional open days, which she wasn’t prepared to do.”

 

Another, Julia Hawkes-Moore, added: “As a trained architect, I would not touch it with a bargepole… But in my childhood, it was a beautiful house. I once viewed the shabby coach house with a view to renting it. The owner was unpleasant and bossy. She demanded that I mowed and cared for the garden and helped her out in the house, but that I still paid the over-high rent. An architectural treasure destoyed by neglect and greed.”

 

Philippa M. H. Jones further commented: “Such a beautiful house. It did have the most beautiful four poster beds. My parents were helping look after her when she was very poorly. Masses of history to the building. So sad as the inside will need much work to it. The roof was open fully to the weather for years.”

 

19th May 2024

“Very nice woman” Anne Marie Sherwood “died peacefully, according to the Hereford Times. Of her passing, St Joseph’s Church, Bromyard remarked: “Please pray for the repose of the soul of Anne Marie Sherwood, a longstanding Bromyard parishioner, who died on Saturday, 18th May, after a long and painful illness. May she rest in peace.”

 

Of Miss Sherwood, on Facebook, one Sue Rosser concluded: “An extremely knowledgeable lady, in her field of vintage apparel, with a wicked sense of humour, too. A real character of Bromyard.”

 

14th July 2009

Planning permission was granted for an external blue plaque about King Charles I’s alleged stay at the house “with conditions.”

 

13th June 2005

Planning application for the “enclosing rear yard to create a kitchen extension” to Bromyard and Winslow parish, Herefordshire council by ‘Miss Sherwood’ was refused.

 

7th March 1987

Planning permission was granted for the conversion of the “dilapidated” former coach house into “living accommodation” that could “be used for tourist accommodation.”

 

Spring 1971:

The Bromyard & District Local History Society reported of The Tower House in their first newsletter:

 

“Among the many reactions to our book, Bromyard: A Local History are letters from Dr J. Wells, who practised here for sixteen years and now in his ninetieth year lives Whitchurch, Cardiff, and his son Mr. John Wells, who married the daughter of the late Mr W.T. Barneby of Saltmarshe Castle. Both correspondents question our use of the name, Tower House, for their old home, Mr Wells saying, ‘We called it Tower Hill House and as such it appeared in the telephone directory, etc. First Miss Woodhouse and later Mr Foster, a bank manager, lived above us in Tower House.’”

 

“Dr Wells gives the following interesting account, of his restorations of the house: ‘I came to Bromyard in 1920 and bought what I understood as Tower Hill House from Father Denys Mathieu, O.S.B. for  a very small sum. When I bought the house, it was covered with a layer of stucco of a greyish colour, up to the level where the ornamental woodwork lies beneath the eaves.’”

“The N.E. side contained one sash window one on each floor; the N.  side the same. There were four large rooms all; looking onto the street. The one on the left side of the front door upstairs, was a very handsome room panelled to the ceiling with old oak square panels, made with an adze, and a magnificent oak floor of very wide and thick boards.”

 

“The original fireplace had been replaced by a much later one. The other upstairs room was also panelled, but with very large panels at a much later date. The left-hand downstairs room with an enormous door was plastered and has a large plaster ornament on the ceiling, and a very fine Adam type mantlepiece. The other room had the original open fire, filled in with an erection of the very handsome bedpost. This we afterwards removed and revealed the open fireplace. The room was not plastered on road side but the outside woodwork was visible.”

 

“During one winter, the stucco came off from under the window of the panelled room and revealed two beams; on the strength of this, I took the risk and employed a local bricklayer, Thomas Handley, to strip the whole house and found it was a black and white house, made of large and smaller beams, with plastered oak laths in between them, covered with a heavy plaster outside and in containing a large amount of hair.        Mr Handley renovated many of the larger beams which had rotted under the stucco, with concrete and Mr Barneby very kindly gave us some oak for the smaller one; the whole, was then creosoted and painted like it looks now.”

 

“When the stucco was removed from around the two sash windows to the left of the front -door the shape of the original windows was located by the position of the beans.  The windows on the right-hand side had apparently never been altered. I presume the four sash windows were put in late in the eighteenth or early in the nineteenth century.”

 

“Father Denys could tell me nothing about the history of the house, but that when he cleaned it, he had found evidence that it had been used to store grain. With reference to the tradition that Charles I slept there I was told that he was the guest of Mrs Baynham but slept at the Bishop’s Palace. As soon as the work of changing the outside of the house was finished I had a letter from the Board of Works in London asking me if I was willing to have the house registered as a house of historic interest, which I agreed to, so I presume it is still and the panels may not be removed.”

 

“The original staircase had been removed. The house as it now is was altered to make it appear as it was in 1630 except there was only one gable window to the attic then.”

 

1964

Photographed; of this, The Francis Firth Collection: An Historical Photographic Archive of National Importance observed: “More about this scene: This beautiful building stands in Tower Hill, part of Bromyard that has been virtually cut off from the rest of the town by a new bypass. I suppose we should be thankful that it wasn’t pulled down when the bypass was built – several buildings were.”

 

25th October 1951

The house was added to the First List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest as having a Grade II* listing.

 

The listing reads:

 

“1630. Two storeys with dormers and cellar. Timber framed on high rubble base. On the north front the studding is close set grid. There are wallplates dividing it into four sections. Ornamental panelling in gable and moulded barge boards. Similar ornamental panelling and barge boards in front, where there is a central two storeyed porch the upper part supported on plain square posts. Gable has pendant with date 1630. Double steps to porch. Interior has ceilings with moulded beams, framing ornaments, plastered. ceilings- some original panelling with fluted pilasters flanking fireplace and other interesting features. RCHM Volume II, plate 28.”

 

1920

Sold by Father Denys Mathieu, O.S.B. “for a very small sum” to Dr J. Wells. It had previously been owned by a Miss Woodhouse and also a Mr Foster, a bank manager.

 

3rd September 1645

King Charles I was “thought” to have stayed at The Tower House – then known as “Mrs Banyham’s house” – for one night “on his way to Hereford.”

 

Circa 1630

The Tower House was built.

 

Further pictures of The Tower House, 1 Tower Hill, Bromyard, Herefordshire, HR7 4DF, United Kingdom

Aerial view Tower House
Library sitting room
Decrepit kitchen
Pink tiled room
Collapsing ceiling bedroom
Bedroom
Attic room
Coach house roof
Coach house kitchen and sitting room
Matthew Steeples
Matthew Steeples
A graduate of the London School of Economics, Matthew Steeples is a writer and marketing consultant. He conceived The Steeple Times as a media arena to fill the void between the Mail Online, The Huffington Post and such organs as the New York Social Diary in 2012.

14 COMMENTS

  1. Send in the wrecking ball!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Should have been blown up when they built the bypass!!!!!!!!! An absolute tip of a place!!!!!!!!!!!!

  2. Good luck to whoever buys it. They will need their brain examining given all the problems, but the end result could be wonderful (though the noisy bypass really would put me off).

  3. Miss Sherwood plainly wanted nobody to gain access. I wonder where she has hidden the keys. A shame if they are lost as they must be very historic in their own right.

  4. I hear that the town of Bromyard is rife with crime. Surprised the local hoolies haven’t had the roof off and that mahogany panelling out.

  5. This house has the looks and the history. Look beyond the problems and see the potential. It could revert to its glory days with a little love and romance.

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