Combining a mix of society's last word and both wit and wisdom, The Steeple Times covers food, drink and fine dining as well as luxury, travel, the arts, individuals of influence and current affairs in the United Kingdom, America and elsewhere. We are best described as being akin to "a cross between The Huffington Post and Private Eye".
The magazine's following is affluent, engaged and international. With 41% of readers coming from the UK and 38% from America, The Steeple Times also has strong presence within Canadian, Italian, German and Australian territories.
December 18, 2018
by Matthew Steeples
Repossessed Grade I listed Dorset mansion once worth circa £15 million for sale for £3 million; the catch? It’s burnt to the ground An “exceptionally important,” Grade I listed, 38,000 square foot, 16th century country house in Dorset with 131.6 acres for just £3 million is certainly something that sounds like a bargain. Sadly, … Continue reading “A Fire Sale”
December 2, 2018
by Matthew Steeples
6,000 acre Scottish estate that offers the perfect opportunity to bag a ‘Macnab’ for sale for less than a price of a poky Knightsbridge flat John Buchan’s 1925 novel John Macnab is a must read and centres on three successful but bored friends – lawyer Sir Edward Leithen, Conservative politician John Palliser-Yeates MP and … Continue reading “The Modern Macnab”
August 14, 2018
by Matthew Steeples
Diverse 2,000 acre Suffolk riverside estate for sale for £31.5 million; it has been owned by the same family since the 19th century and produces an income of some £500,000 per year A vast Suffolk estate – just 120 miles from London – has gone on sale for £31.5 million ($40.1 million, €35.3 million … Continue reading “A Perfect Estate”
November 11, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
“One of Britain’s finest 20th-century country houses” has been placed for sale for £20 million; it comes with 530 acres and was built by the late businessman Sebastian de Ferranti in the 1980s One could imagine being in the early 18th century or in Italy even on first taking a look at the Palladian … Continue reading “A Modern Beauty”
September 8, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Delightful West Country estate with Elizabethan manor house and 450 acres of land for sale for £7.95 million Launched to the market in May for £8.75 million ($11.55 million, €9.60 million or درهم42.42 million) with 538 acres of land, Higher Melcombe Manor at Melcombe Bingham, near Dorchester in Dorset is now available for a … Continue reading “A Magnificent Manor”
June 26, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Unrestored Virginia estate owned by the same family since 1740 for sale for the first time ever A 410.18-acre estate in Virginia that has been owned by the same family since 1740 has gone on sale for £1.53 million ($1.95 million, €1.75 million or درهم7.16 million). Completely unaltered and on the National Register … Continue reading “Virgin Virginia”
June 23, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
130 acre Surrey estate with gardens by Arabella Lennox Boyd for sale for £28 million (or £13 million more than it was marketed for in 2013) A Surrey estate has gone on sale for 87% more than in was offered for four years ago. Featured in Country Life in 2013 whilst for sale … Continue reading “Pricey Pickhurst”
May 29, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
EXCLUSIVE – “Nationally important” Grade II* listed Berkshire mansion in 130 acres for sale for £26 million; its interior is yet to be renovated A Grade II* listed building capable of being reinstated as one of Britain’s finest country houses has just been placed on the market for £26 million. Benham Park – … Continue reading “Best in Britain”
May 6, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Grade I listed Georgian mansion in Worcestershire for sale for the first time since the 1720s Few houses remain in the ownership of the same family for three hundred years, but an example of such, Ombersley Court at Ombersley in Worcestershire, has just been placed on the market for £3.5 million ($4.5 million, €4.1 … Continue reading “A Georgian Gem”
April 30, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Seriously expensive waterfront building plot goes on sale outside San Francisco; it comes with plans for the perfect home for a tech titan 14.5 acres of forested land with 2,000 feet of frontage to San Francisco Bay shoreline has gone on sale for what could be one of the highest prices ever for a … Continue reading “A Pointedly Pricey Plot”
April 17, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Former Lancashire farmhouse for sale for £1.69 million complete with giant chessboard Until recently used as a holiday cottage rental, Low House at Eskrigge in Lancashire is described by selling agents Matthews Benjamin as “a joy to behold”. Dating to the late 17th century and originally a farmhouse and barn, this 4,490 … Continue reading “Checkmate”
April 15, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Picturesque watermill used in ‘The Witchfinder General’ and ‘Dad’s Army’ for sale Witches and water don’t have an affinity – with dunking being a common form of punishment for suspects in the 16th and 17th centuries – and at The Watermill on the River Black Bourn at Ixworth in Suffolk, just such activity occurred … Continue reading “Witchfinders and Watermills”
April 13, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Norfolk manor house owned by anti-Brexit Conservative politician Lord Prior of Brampton for sale for £3 million David Prior – now The Rt. Hon. The Lord Prior of Brampton – undoubtedly was a decent and able Member of Parliament. Educated at Charterhouse and Cambridge, he became first an investment banker with Lehman Brothers and … Continue reading “An MP’s Manor”
December 9, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
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 … Continue reading “A Parson’s Moat”
December 3, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Oxfordshire country house that has appeared in many films for sale for £10 million in spite of needing some renovation Launched to the market in June for £10 million ($12.7 million or €11.9 million or درهم46.7 million) in June 2016 as a while or £7.75 million ($9.9 million or €9.2 million or درهم36.2 million) … Continue reading “A £10m Doer-Upper”
August 30, 2016
by General
A selection of five of the best follies for sale in Britain and elsewhere A folly is unlikely to make an ideal home for a family, but for someone a little more quirky – a writer or artist perhaps – they can easily make an ideal home. Our selection of five of the … Continue reading “Five of the Best – Follies for sale”
May 6, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Grade I listed 40,000 square foot Oxfordshire stately home on the market for just £3.6 million – but inevitably there’s a catch
May 3, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Modern Georgian style country house for sale for £19.5 million – complete with bowling alley and ‘Indian room’ with LED ‘night sky’ ceiling
April 4, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Untouched North Yorkshire estate with 2,116 acres and 44 houses for sale for £20 million for the first time in 150 years
June 24, 2015
by Matthew Steeples
Vivien Leigh’s retreat and final resting place for sale for £3.25 million
June 20, 2015
by Matthew Steeples
£3 million sought for a repossessed, roofless shell set in 1,530 acres of Cumbrian countryside
June 6, 2015
by Matthew Steeples
Tiny converted hut in the Lake District placed on the market for the same price as a flat in Kensington, London
May 25, 2015
by Matthew Steeples
Dorset mansion built by Bastards that has been the setting of a bitter familial feud for sale for the first time since 1846
April 18, 2015
by Matthew Steeples
George Lucas’ decision to build affordable housing on his estate is commendable – the Candy brothers in London should take note
April 5, 2015
by Matthew Steeples
Converted Cold War nuclear bunker on the edge of London for sale for £3.5 million
March 8, 2015
by Matthew Steeples
£46.4 million Woodside estate remains for sale despite £10.1 million price cut
March 2, 2015
by Matthew Steeples
200 acre Scottish estate for sale for the price of an 800 square foot flat in Knightsbridge
July 30, 2014
by Matthew Steeples
An opportunity to create your own version of Downton Abbey in the Cotswolds For a mere £27 million you can currently purchase a 6-bedroomed mews house in Reeves Mews in Mayfair. Alternatively, a buyer with the same sum to hand could splash out on something a little grander, a 774.32 acre Cotswold estate complete … Continue reading “Perfectly British”
July 23, 2014
by Matthew Steeples
The perfect English country house comes to the market for £11 million complete with its own cricket pitch A house that has been in the same ownership for 30 years normally would be described by estate agents as “requiring some updating”. Stanton Court in the north Cotswolds is an exception.
April 11, 2014
by Matthew Steeples
Own a castle (for just twenty years) for £850,000 Trematon Castle near Saltash in Cornwall is a house that I stayed in about ten years ago when it belonged to a friend of mine’s family. It was sold subsequently and now it is on the market once again.
December 14, 2013
by Matthew Steeples
Hilary Devey slices £250,000 off asking price of her country residence Bolton born businesswoman and former Dragons’ Den star Hilary Devey CBE has slashed the price of her Staffordshire home from £2.2 million to just £1.95 million through agents Fisher German.
October 26, 2013
by Matthew Steeples
17th century Oswaldkirk Hall for sale for £4 million Described by Candida Lycett Green as “a fine and architecturally distinguished house, built in the reign of William and Mary” in her 1994 book The Perfect English Country House, Oswaldkirk Hall in the North Riding of Yorkshire is at the heart of the setting of … Continue reading “The Perfect English Country House”
October 4, 2013
by Matthew Steeples
Scotland’s most expensive estate comes to the market In Downton Abbey last week, the Grantham family talked about selling off parts of their estate to cover the costs of death duties. In Scotland, the death of Sir James Cayzer has led to his family selling off one of their estates.
July 28, 2013
by Matthew Steeples
The former home of renowned Kendalian architect George Webster comes to the market Eller How House, the home where one of the North of England’s finest architects of the 19th century, George Webster (1797 – 1864), lived and died, has recently come to the market at a price of £1,450,000.
June 16, 2013
by Matthew Steeples
Robbie Williams’ Wiltshire estate for sale again for £2.6 million less than he paid for it Singer Robbie Williams paid £8,100,000 for Compton Bassett House, near Calne in Wiltshire in 2008. In the years since he’s tried to sell it several times but even now that it has been relaunched for just £5,500,000, will … Continue reading “Blighted Bassett”
February 18, 2013
by Matthew Steeples
The sale of the home of a circus heir and the revival of Billy Smart’s Circus Billy Smart, Sr. (1894 – 1966), a travelling showman and father of 10 children (he was himself one of 23), bought a circus in 1946 and quickly became known as an extraordinary entertainer. One of his son’s, Billy … Continue reading “A Smart move”
November 20, 2012
by Matthew Steeples
A marine residence with a history tied to the Rolls-Royce Spirit of Ecstasy, the Special Operations Executive and Babycham The House on the Shore on Thorns Beach at Beaulieu in Hampshire is a home that wouldn’t look out of place in the Hamptons or Rhode Island. Dramatically situated next to the Solent waters to … Continue reading “Ecstasy and Babycham”
November 15, 2012
by Matthew Steeples
This mouthpiece was born in Rettendon, Essex in 1958 and vents bile on all manner of subjects. Articles such as: “Why don’t more women moan like me?” and “Liz Jones’ baby craving drove her to steal husband’s sperm in ultimate deception” are frankly illustrative of why she’s so unpopular. After she got banned from the … Continue reading “Liz Jones”
November 12, 2012
by Matthew Steeples
Matthew Steeples examines the truth behind Liz Jones giving up on her “rural idyll” The Mail’s Liz Jones is a waspish woman who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. Those who’ve paid even a moment’s attention to her bleating, will be familiar with lines such as: “Last week, my brand … Continue reading “The battleaxe in the Beemer”
October 2, 2012
by Matthew Steeples
The North Devon countryside that inspired Henry Williamson, R. D. Blackmore and Charles Kingsley Much of my childhood was spent reading the works of superb authors and amongst the best of them were Arthur Ransome (1884 – 1967), Denys Watkins-Pitchford (1905 – 1990), who wrote many of his works under the pseudonym “B.B.”, and … Continue reading “The land of Tarka and Salar”
