The Steeple Times

Tag: United Kingdom

  • Power Pays

    Power Pays

    That a convicted paedophile is able to avoid a jail sentence is an utter disgrace especially given pensioners get locked up for non-payment of TV licence fees; Old Etonian Andrew Picard shouldn’t be on the streets, he should be in the clink

     

    Andrew Picard (AKA Andrew Laurence and Andrew Boeckman) was caught with 1,185 indecent images of children as young as eight on his computer. He admitted to possessing videos of a three year old being raped, children being forced to have sex with dogs and sharing indecent images on Skype with an undercover policeman yet he was spared jail and handed a derisory non-custodial sentence late last month.

     

    Eton College, Berkshire and Williams College, Massachusetts educated former USA swimmer Picard – who changed his name from Andrew Boeckman to protect the supposed “good reputation” of his wealthy family during his trial – received a sentence of just 10 months imprisonment suspended for 18 months for ten counts of possessing child pornography in late February and thus, one must ask: “Why wasn’t he locked up?”

     

    Justifying why he spared Picard of Probyn House, Page Street, Westminster jail and why he also decided not to place this privileged pervert and predator on the sex offenders’ register, Judge Peter Ross remarked:

     

    “It has been said that you and your family have suffered deeply as a result of your arrest and public exposure. Your family didn’t deserve that… [Prison] would undo the counseling you have undergone”.

     

    Sallie Bennett-Jenkins QC, defending, added:

     

    “This is a young and very able man who has hopes for the future… He was able to have this opportunity [to seek help] and this was something Andrew sought for himself, by himself”.

     

    In a country where our government actively pursues jail sentences for pensioners refusing to pay their TV licence fees, it is a disgrace that the son of a prominent American lawyer named Philip J. Boeckman manages to avoid prison in spite of the seriousness of his offences. This utterly contemptible decision is something that brings only shame on Britain.

     

  • A Happy House

    A Happy House

    Berkshire country house named “Gays” for sale

     

    Not connected with the LGBT community in any way, but in fact named after a man named John Gays, “Gays” at Holyport, near Maidenhead in Berkshire dates to around 1456 and is currently for sale for £5.95 million ($7.36 million, €6.88 million or درهم27.05 million).

     

    Gays or John Gays House, Langworthy Lane, Holyport, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 2HN, England, United Kingdom – £5.95 million ($7.36 million, €6.88 million or درهم27.05 million) – For sale through Christie’s Real Estate
    Gays or John Gays House, Langworthy Lane, Holyport, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 2HN, England, United Kingdom

     

    Also referred to as “John Gays House” and offered to the market by Christie’s Real Estate, this 12,482 square foot “bijou old world residence” stands in 20.75 acres and is predominantly built of red brick elevations with attractive sash fenestration, under a tile roof. It is Grade II listed, dates to the Tudor period and also includes later Queen Anne, Georgian, Victorian and 20th century additions.

     

    Less than 30 miles from central London, Gays has been owned by a Swiss family for 20 years according to Country Life and includes 6 reception rooms, a conservatory, a master bedroom suite with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and 2 dressing rooms, 6 further bedrooms and 5 further bathrooms. In addition, the property also comes with a 2-bedroom lodge cottage, a 2-bedroom staff cottage, an indoor swimming pool, wine store and 4-car garage.

     

    Aside from a large lawned garden with an irrigation system, a lake adjoins the house and there is also an orchard with apple and pear trees. A stable block, a manège and paddocks stand beyond whilst a 1-kilometre long sand and rubber chip horse exercise track circles it. The Duke of York, it transpires, borrowed these facilities in the late 1990s for his own horses.

     

    Gays or John Gays House, Langworthy Lane, Holyport, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 2HN, England, United Kingdom – £5.95 million ($7.36 million, €6.88 million or درهم27.05 million) – For sale through Christie’s Real Estate Gays or John Gays House, Langworthy Lane, Holyport, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 2HN, England, United Kingdom – £5.95 million ($7.36 million, €6.88 million or درهم27.05 million) – For sale through Christie’s Real EstateGays or John Gays House, Langworthy Lane, Holyport, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 2HN, England, United Kingdom – £5.95 million ($7.36 million, €6.88 million or درهم27.05 million) – For sale through Christie’s Real EstateGays or John Gays House, Langworthy Lane, Holyport, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 2HN, England, United Kingdom – £5.95 million ($7.36 million, €6.88 million or درهم27.05 million) – For sale through Christie’s Real EstateGays or John Gays House, Langworthy Lane, Holyport, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 2HN, England, United Kingdom – £5.95 million ($7.36 million, €6.88 million or درهم27.05 million) – For sale through Christie’s Real EstateGays or John Gays House, Langworthy Lane, Holyport, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 2HN, England, United Kingdom – £5.95 million ($7.36 million, €6.88 million or درهم27.05 million) – For sale through Christie’s Real EstateGays or John Gays House, Langworthy Lane, Holyport, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 2HN, England, United Kingdom – £5.95 million ($7.36 million, €6.88 million or درهم27.05 million) – For sale through Christie’s Real EstateGays or John Gays House, Langworthy Lane, Holyport, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 2HN, England, United Kingdom – £5.95 million ($7.36 million, €6.88 million or درهم27.05 million) – For sale through Christie’s Real EstateGays or John Gays House, Langworthy Lane, Holyport, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 2HN, England, United Kingdom – £5.95 million ($7.36 million, €6.88 million or درهم27.05 million) – For sale through Christie’s Real Estate Gays or John Gays House, Langworthy Lane, Holyport, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 2HN, England, United Kingdom – £5.95 million ($7.36 million, €6.88 million or درهم27.05 million) – For sale through Christie’s Real EstateGays or John Gays House, Langworthy Lane, Holyport, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 2HN, England, United Kingdom – £5.95 million ($7.36 million, €6.88 million or درهم27.05 million) – For sale through Christie’s Real Estate

  • A Parson’s Moat

    A Parson’s Moat

    East Sussex country house for sale; it comes complete with an enormous rectangular moat allegedly dug by an eccentric parson in the 1700s

     

    One generally associates moats with castles and manor houses – such as the one we featured last month – but an old rectory currently for sale for £5 million ($6.3 million or €5.9 million or درهم‎‎23.2 million) in East Sussex comes with an especially impressive ground water-fed, rectangular example complete with three timber footbridges.

     

    A Parson’s Moat – Chailey Moat, Chailey Green, East Sussex, United Kingdom, BN8 4DA – £5 million ($6.3 million or €5.9 million or درهم‎‎23.2 million)
    Chailey Moat, Chailey Green, East Sussex, United Kingdom, BN8 4DA
    A Parson’s Moat – Chailey Moat, Chailey Green, East Sussex, United Kingdom, BN8 4DA – £5 million ($6.3 million or €5.9 million or درهم‎‎23.2 million)
    The house in Victorian times with the Reverend Thomas Harry Lee Jellicoe outside with his servants circa 1900
    A Parson’s Moat – Chailey Moat, Chailey Green, East Sussex, United Kingdom, BN8 4DA – £5 million ($6.3 million or €5.9 million or درهم‎‎23.2 million)
    This fireplace is one of the most stunning and historic features internally
    A Parson’s Moat – Chailey Moat, Chailey Green, East Sussex, United Kingdom, BN8 4DA – £5 million ($6.3 million or €5.9 million or درهم‎‎23.2 million)
    It is situated within this reading room
    A Parson’s Moat – Chailey Moat, Chailey Green, East Sussex, United Kingdom, BN8 4DA – £5 million ($6.3 million or €5.9 million or درهم‎‎23.2 million)
    Another view of the main house shows the size of the moat

     

    Previously marketed for £3.5 million ($4.4 million or €4.1 million or درهم‎‎16.2 million) in 2007 but not sold at that time, Grade II listed Chailey Moat at Chailey Green, near Haywards Heath in East Sussex dates to around 1540 and was previously known as ‘The Parsonage’. It blends Tudor, Carolean, Elizabethan and Georgian elements and is centred on an original timber framed medieval structure hidden by later additions. The south-eastern façade is described by selling agents Savills as “most striking” and amongst other unusual features are a Venetian window on the first floor and a brick fireplace in a reading room with an intricately carved overmantel that allegedly came from part of a Charles I bedstead.

     

    Aside from a 6,146 square foot main house with 5 reception rooms and upto 8 bedrooms over three floors, there is a 398 square foot 1 bedroom cottage and a 4 bedroomed, 17th century barn conversion that extends to 807 square foot and also provides a substantial games room.

     

    Gardens and grounds extend to 43.76 acres and aside from the moat – which was allegedly singlehandedly dug by the Reverend Richard Porter, rector from 1713 to 1753 – there is also a enclosed tennis court, an outdoor swimming pool, a stream fed lake, a productive orchard and rolling pastureland.

     

    Chailey Moat is offered by Savills and was described by Country Life’s Penny Churchill as a “mansion of peace” in June this year. In October, the medieval property’s current owner, businessman Andrew Colin, described its idyllic setting to The Times. “It’s like sitting in the middle of a nature reserve”, he said.

     

    A Parson’s Moat – Chailey Moat, Chailey Green, East Sussex, United Kingdom, BN8 4DA – £5 million ($6.3 million or €5.9 million or درهم‎‎23.2 million)
    The dining hall
    A Parson’s Moat – Chailey Moat, Chailey Green, East Sussex, United Kingdom, BN8 4DA – £5 million ($6.3 million or €5.9 million or درهم‎‎23.2 million)
    The drawing room
    A Parson’s Moat – Chailey Moat, Chailey Green, East Sussex, United Kingdom, BN8 4DA – £5 million ($6.3 million or €5.9 million or درهم‎‎23.2 million)
    The staircase dates from the 18th century
    A Parson’s Moat – Chailey Moat, Chailey Green, East Sussex, United Kingdom, BN8 4DA – £5 million ($6.3 million or €5.9 million or درهم‎‎23.2 million)
    The kitchen has a four-oven AGA
    A Parson’s Moat – Chailey Moat, Chailey Green, East Sussex, United Kingdom, BN8 4DA – £5 million ($6.3 million or €5.9 million or درهم‎‎23.2 million)
    This barn conversion provides ideal staff or guest accommodation and beyond it is a full-sized tennis court
    A Parson’s Moat – Chailey Moat, Chailey Green, East Sussex, United Kingdom, BN8 4DA – £5 million ($6.3 million or €5.9 million or درهم‎‎23.2 million)
    A lake is situated within the grounds
    A Parson’s Moat – Chailey Moat, Chailey Green, East Sussex, United Kingdom, BN8 4DA – £5 million ($6.3 million or €5.9 million or درهم‎‎23.2 million)
    Whilst extensive lawned gardens extend out across the moat
    A Parson’s Moat – Chailey Moat, Chailey Green, East Sussex, United Kingdom, BN8 4DA – £5 million ($6.3 million or €5.9 million or درهم‎‎23.2 million)
    Another view of the gardens
    A Parson’s Moat – Chailey Moat, Chailey Green, East Sussex, United Kingdom, BN8 4DA – £5 million ($6.3 million or €5.9 million or درهم‎‎23.2 million)
    A floor plan of the main house
    A Parson’s Moat – Chailey Moat, Chailey Green, East Sussex, United Kingdom, BN8 4DA – £5 million ($6.3 million or €5.9 million or درهم‎‎23.2 million)
    Floor plans of the barn conversion, cottage and outbuildings
  • Pint-Sized Perfection

    Pint-Sized Perfection

    Picturesque gate lodge in Warwickshire offered for sale

     

    Sometimes the best things come in small packages and for those looking for a weekend retreat, a little 19th century gatehouse named Molly’s Lodge could provide just what the doctor ordered.

     

    Standing in 0.61 acres of cottage gardens at Wolford Heath, near Long Compton in Warwickshire, the 1 bedroom Grade II listed house offered extends to 782 square foot whilst a further bedroom is provided in a 1 bedroom 1,145 square foot annexe named Molly’s Mews that also includes garaging for three cars.

     

    Built in 1834, the chocolate box cottage features squared and shaped coursed limestone, polygonal corner turrets, an embattled parapet, a pyramidal slate roof with carved finials and stone mullion window. It was designed by Edward Blore (1787 – 1879), a man “most notable for his completion of John Nash’s design of Buckingham Palace”.

     

    Originally one of the gate lodges to Weston Park, £575,000 ($717,000, €677,000 or درهم‎‎2.6 million) is sought by selling agents Savills.

     

    Pint-Sized Perfection – Molly’s Lodge and Molly’s Mews, Wolford Heath, Near Long Compton, Warwickshire, United Kingdom, CV36 5NR – Weston Park Estate – £575,000 ($717,000, €677,000 or درهم‎‎2.6 million).Pint-Sized Perfection – Molly’s Lodge and Molly’s Mews, Wolford Heath, Near Long Compton, Warwickshire, United Kingdom, CV36 5NR – Weston Park Estate – £575,000 ($717,000, €677,000 or درهم‎‎2.6 million). Pint-Sized Perfection – Molly’s Lodge and Molly’s Mews, Wolford Heath, Near Long Compton, Warwickshire, United Kingdom, CV36 5NR – Weston Park Estate – £575,000 ($717,000, €677,000 or درهم‎‎2.6 million).Pint-Sized Perfection – Molly’s Lodge and Molly’s Mews, Wolford Heath, Near Long Compton, Warwickshire, United Kingdom, CV36 5NR – Weston Park Estate – £575,000 ($717,000, €677,000 or درهم‎‎2.6 million).Pint-Sized Perfection – Molly’s Lodge and Molly’s Mews, Wolford Heath, Near Long Compton, Warwickshire, United Kingdom, CV36 5NR – Weston Park Estate – £575,000 ($717,000, €677,000 or درهم‎‎2.6 million).Pint-Sized Perfection – Molly’s Lodge and Molly’s Mews, Wolford Heath, Near Long Compton, Warwickshire, United Kingdom, CV36 5NR – Weston Park Estate – £575,000 ($717,000, €677,000 or درهم‎‎2.6 million).Pint-Sized Perfection – Molly’s Lodge and Molly’s Mews, Wolford Heath, Near Long Compton, Warwickshire, United Kingdom, CV36 5NR – Weston Park Estate – £575,000 ($717,000, €677,000 or درهم‎‎2.6 million).Pint-Sized Perfection – Molly’s Lodge and Molly’s Mews, Wolford Heath, Near Long Compton, Warwickshire, United Kingdom, CV36 5NR – Weston Park Estate – £575,000 ($717,000, €677,000 or درهم‎‎2.6 million).Pint-Sized Perfection – Molly’s Lodge and Molly’s Mews, Wolford Heath, Near Long Compton, Warwickshire, United Kingdom, CV36 5NR – Weston Park Estate – £575,000 ($717,000, €677,000 or درهم‎‎2.6 million).Pint-Sized Perfection – Molly’s Lodge and Molly’s Mews, Wolford Heath, Near Long Compton, Warwickshire, United Kingdom, CV36 5NR – Weston Park Estate – £575,000 ($717,000, €677,000 or درهم‎‎2.6 million).

  • MAYbe a SHOEin

    MAYbe a SHOEin

    Theresa May’s appointment as Prime Minister leaves a lot to be desired suggests Matthew Steeples – but we can thank God for small mercies also

     

    Theresa May as Prime Minister: As much as I disliked the idea, it was never a MAYbe and was always going to be a SHOEin. Goodness knows what’s next, but with she-who-cannot-make-up-her-mind in charge, nothing will ever be predictable.

     

    With Angela Leadsom’s cowardice exposed – she should not, in fact, ever have stood in the first place if she knew she wasn’t good enough – the inevitable occurred and now the real loser in all of this, David Cameron, will be swiftly sent on his way. Perhaps it was all planned but most likely it was simply a farce.

     

    The country needs strong leadership right now and the worst Home Secretary in history and a woman who consistently has failed to deliver anything other than chaos is not, in my humble opinion, going to do that. At least, and though I very much doubt she’ll ever become PM herself, with Angela Eagle challenging Jeremy Corbyn we’ll end up with a decent opposition. Thank God for small mercies but even she couldn’t raise anyone to ask her a question at her campaign launch on Monday. The Eagle well and truly has yet to land but Darth Vader’s sister is sadly very much in control of the House. This is a sad day for democracy.

     

    Matthew Steeples is editor-in-chief and co-founder of The Steeple Times.

     

     

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  • One family from new

    One family from new

    Grade I listed house in Northern Ireland offered for sale for the first time since it was built in 1620 (more…)

  • Gone fishing

    Gone fishing

    Week of prime fishing on the River Tay for sale for £145,000 (more…)

  • A catch at Cornbury

    A catch at Cornbury

    Grade I listed 40,000 square foot Oxfordshire stately home on the market for just £3.6 million – but inevitably there’s a catch (more…)

  • A £65 million mansion

    A £65 million mansion

    Hampshire estate Hackwood Park goes on the open market for £65 million – making it one of most expensive country houses ever offered for sale in Britain (more…)

  • Lawrence Van Hagen

    Lawrence Van Hagen

    Art curator Lawrence Van HagenBig haired art curator and international jetsetter Lawrence Van Hagen is based in London and Paris. (more…)