Wiltshire Escape to the Country

Welcome to Escape To The Country.

Today, I'm in a county that has more prehistoric landmarks in it

than any other, including this one.

But what is it, and where is it?

Well, join me in just a moment and I'll tell you.

On today's show, a couple who long to escape city life

and bring up their two small children

in the quiet of the countryside.

But we hit a stumbling block with style...

We're a bit more traditional.

-We are, yeah. We're a bit more fuddy-duddies than you think.

-THEY LAUGH

..although another of our properties really gets their imagination going.

I can imagine us cooking, the kids playing,

Jamie's doing all the hard work,

-I'm sitting at the table with a glass of wine...

-SHE LAUGHS

Well, today we are in Wiltshire and this is the Neolithic chamber tomb

otherwise known as West Kennet Long Barrow.

It is, without doubt,

one of the finest examples of its type anywhere in Britain.

I first came here 25 years ago as a young archaeology student.

It was a mystery then and, to be honest, it's still a mystery now.

But we do believe it was built around about 3650 BC,

making it over 5,500 years old.

It was in use for probably 1,000 years until, for some unknown reason,

the entrance to the tomb itself was blocked up with those huge sarsen boulders.

Now, why it fell into disuse is, of course, a mystery,

but it is just one of the wonders of this landscape that, for me,

make Wiltshire so fascinating.

Known as the gateway to the West Country,

landlocked Wiltshire is bordered by counties

including Somerset to the west and Berkshire and Hampshire to the east.

Agriculture, and a rich history dating back thousands of years,

has shaped and left an indelible mark on this county's landscape,

which is characterised by its rolling chalky hills

and fertile valleys.

Its unrivalled collection of prehistoric monuments

include the largest stone circle in the world at Avebury,

dating to around 5,000 years ago.

The county is also famous for its collection of white horses

carved out of the chalky hills.

The vast majority, including this one at Westbury,

aren't ancient creations, but date to the 18th century.

Wiltshire also has its fair share of attractive market towns,

including Marlborough, with its wide Georgian high street,

and pretty thatched villages such as Alton Barnes,

overlooked by the Pewsey Downs.

With such a wealth of awe-inspiring architecture

set in a timeless landscape,

it's easy to see why many want to make Wiltshire their new home.

Well, it probably comes as no great surprise to learn that there is

a premium for wanting to live in this, let's face it, glorious county.

Here, the average price of a detached property

is currently £323,000.

That's some £41,000 above the national figure,

but fear not, there are some bargains to be had,

particularly if you get away from the busy M4 corridor

and popular commuter towns like Malmesbury and Marlborough.

If you head west over towards Westbury and Trowbridge,

here you could save yourself up to 45%, a saving well worth having.

So, let's meet today's buyers and find out why they think

Wiltshire is for them.

Jamie and Sabrina currently live in London's East Dulwich,

in a three-bedroom Victorian terrace with their two young sons,

three-year-old Reuben and one-year-old Theo.

We met when we were in the Philippines, about...

five or six years ago.

We were doing a marine conservation course.

Jamie really liked the algae

-because you were allowed to touch that.

-That's right.

I really liked the fact that

you were as excited to be there as I was,

and I liked that you had been...

-doing all these things...

-These are all nice things you've never said to me before!

After that aquatic introduction came children,

and the couple were married just over a year ago.

But having lived in London for a number of years,

Jamie and Sabrina now feel the time is right to leave the capital.

We both grew up in the countryside,

and so I think, essentially, the main reason we want to move is that

we're not really convinced we want to raise our kids in a big city.

Jamie works long hours as a lawyer in Central London,

whilst Sabrina has put her writing career on hold

to look after the children.

For him, the move is a chance to reassess his work-life balance.

It's not just about the kids,

it's also about, kind of, our quality of life.

-For you to not spend lots of time commuting.

-Yeah.

Spend more time at home and have more free time

to do some of the things that we would like to do.

The couple have set their sights on Wiltshire,

as it offers them countryside living within easy reach of Bristol,

where Jamie hopes to find work.

We're looking for somewhere

where we can kind of have the best of both worlds,

where you get the rurality of having...

-That's not a word.

-You can have rural life

with woodlands and outdoors and things like that,

-but also have...

-Yeah.

-..access and availability to...

-BOTH:

-..a bit of culture.

-Exactly.

As well as spending quality time with the children,

this creative couple are hoping to develop their repertoire of hobbies,

including knitting and woodwork.

I'd really like to get back to doing a bit more, kind of,

carpentry and artistic carpentry and things like that.

Whereas Sabrina is doing a course in garden design

and hopes her new Wiltshire home

will give her an inspiring blank canvas to work on.

Certainly, where we are in London, the gardens are quite small

and everyone just wants a bit of grass for the kids to play on,

so it'd be really nice for us to have a bigger garden

that I could experiment with as well,

and maybe set aside certain areas for different things.

And, as well as their hobbies,

they also have aspirations to live the good life.

-We're dying to have alpacas, and you want goats.

-Goats.

Both of us are quite keen on being a bit more self-sufficient.

I like growing food and Jamie would quite like to look after some animals, that sort of thing.

With eldest son Reuben soon to start primary school,

the race is on to find Jamie and Sabrina a home and community they can settle down in.

This is more of a life adventure because this is

taking the next step and...

erm, it's...

it's about our future rather than about our present.

Our buyers would like to be within close proximity to the M4 motorway,

for easy access into Bristol and London,

so we're concentrating our property search in the north of the county.

I'm meeting up with them in Wiltshire,

to go over their wish list.

-Well, good morning. Hi, Sabrina, very nice see you.

-Hi.

-Hi, Jamie.

-Hi.

Welcome to Wiltshire on a beautiful day -

you've certainly brought the weather with you from London.

-Why here?

-Well, we're both really fond of the South West.

I was at uni in Bristol for four years,

and Jamie's got family who live in Somerset,

so this is a great location that we know and we're fond of.

Now, this move is littered with some really interesting lifestyle ideas and ambitions.

Just run through the list, Jamie.

So, one of the things we'd really like to be able to do is use the land to make a bit of money,

so we're thinking of having some kind of holiday let,

whether that's a cottage or yurts on the land or something like that.

But, at the same time, I would maintain working,

which is why we want to be accessible to Bristol.

We want to have a bit of land for us to have some animals to keep on,

give our kids the opportunity to grow up in the country,

experience a bit of country life.

Let's talk about the alpacas.

We'd like to have them as pets,

but, also, I think there's loads of exciting other things we could do

in terms of using their wool or maybe breeding them,

and our kids really love them as well.

In terms of property specifics,

you've had some time to envisage what your new house may look like.

Jamie, what's in your mind?

So, I like, kind of, a country cottage or farmhouse-style building,

whereas I think Sabrina's more after something on the Georgian-manor style,

with high ceilings, big windows, that sort of stuff.

A lady to the manor, is that it?

Something a bit more regal?

Not regal, necessarily,

but I'm quite a fan of, you know, big windows and high ceilings.

And, in terms of...

..specifics, I mean, you know, bedrooms and all the rest of it, I mean, where are we on that?

I think we'd like four bedrooms as a minimum,

because it would be really great to be able to have family to come and stay, erm...

nephews and nieces to be able to come and spend some time with us,

and then I'd really like a nice, kind of, safe garden that the kids can just play in.

I know you are very keen on gardening and you are undertaking

-a course in garden design at the moment.

-I am, yeah.

But, also, outside space, I mean, the alpacas are going to need some acres.

Have you thought about, you know, numbers there?

I think we'd like to have, sort of, five to ten acres.

So, I think I know what you want, but where do you want it?

I mean, location is all-important.

The most important thing is access to a good primary school,

but ideally, we'd love to be, say, on the edge of a village

or walkable to a village with a nice pub, a shop.

Wow, it's quite a list, isn't it?

It is quite a list.

But, let's see if the budget can match those aspirations.

How much are you going to spend?

Our budget is 900, up to a maximum of 950 for the perfect property.

Weather's good. We've got three, I think,

really interesting properties to show you,

including, of course, our Mystery House.

-So, ready to go?

-Great, yep.

Come on, then, follow me.

With a top budget of £950,000,

Jamie and Sabrina differ slightly on architectural style,

but they'd like a character house with four bedrooms,

a large kitchen/diner and a separate sitting room.

Outside, they want between five to ten acres of land to fulfil their

smallholding ambitions, and to allow for a holiday enterprise

at some point in the future.

And the property should be situated on the edge of a village,

close to schools for their two boys.

We've lined up an assortment of wonderful Wiltshire houses for them to consider,

but I won't be revealing the price tags until the end of each tour.

Finally, our Mystery House will tempt them with the outside space,

but they may want to put their stamp on the inside.

We're kicking off our property search in the village of Little Somerford,

around six miles from the town of Malmesbury, in the north of the county.

Situated on the southern fringes of the Cotswolds,

the village's architecture features the golden-coloured limestone

the region is known for,

and amenities include a popular public house and convenience store

in nearby Great Somerford.

There's also a Church of England primary school for their sons

with an Ofsted rating of "good".

Back in Little Somerford,

our first house is located right next door to the 14th-century church

on the edge of the village.

Feast your eyes on this!

Our first property of the week - there we go.

What do you reckon to that, then?

That's beautiful.

Now, from what you were saying earlier, Jamie, I think this really is one for you.

Sabrina, it's not a great big Georgian pile,

but do you think this is the sort of property you could agree on?

Yeah, definitely. I think it looks really beautiful.

-Living the dream?

-Yeah.

-Let's have a look inside, come on.

-Thank you.

Set in a secluded spot, surrounded by a pretty garden,

our first house is believed to date back to the 1750s,

and is an attractive, timber-framed property, built from red brick.

The thatched roof, made from reed, has recently been re-ridged.

The interior has also been refurbished

and the original house extended to the back and side,

opening up the accommodation.

There we go, starting with the kitchen is always a good bet

cos it's a real scene-setter, I think.

It's lovely. Two windows and the garden doors is just perfect.

I can imagine us cooking, you know, the kids playing...

Lovely to have a separate bit of space that they can play in,

-or the doors open to the garden and they're kicking a football around outside.

-Yeah.

Jamie's doing all the hard work,

I'm sitting at the table with a glass of wine...

-It'd be perfect.

-It's lovely.

Yeah, I can see it as being a really nice sort of space just to have

a little informal dinner and things, as well. It's beautiful.

Look at your face!

This is exactly what you were thinking about, isn't it?

Come on.

This is the dining room and this links the kitchen

to the reception rooms throughout the rest of the house.

-Wow!

-It's really atmospheric, actually.

-It's quite intimate.

-Yeah?

-But reception rooms are this way.

-Lovely.

One of the two remaining reception rooms is a cosy snug

with exposed beams and a wood-burning stove,

part of the newer extension at the back.

But we're heading for the larger sitting room.

There we go. You have got two reception rooms here,

but this is the biggest, I would say.

-Lovely. Doors on to the garden again...

-Yeah.

-..which is so nice,

but the, kind of, low beams and the low ceilings...

Yeah, it's not so much my style as Jamie's,

but it's a really, really beautiful house.

Good. Right, then, shall we go upstairs?

Let's see what you make of the bedrooms.

We've got some positive responses

to the ground-floor layout of our first house.

Upstairs, Jamie and Sabrina get the four bedrooms they've asked for.

They're all good-sized doubles,

offering plenty of options for the children,

and there are two family bathrooms to choose from -

one of which has a large corner bath.

And that just leaves the master.

So, this is the one we've got earmarked for you two.

That's beautiful.

-The window?

-The window, yeah.

-Really lovely.

-This room, in particular, is so light. It feels very, very welcoming.

It feels very restful.

In terms of the accommodation up here,

what about the boys and guests?

You wanted four bedrooms - it's got four.

The other room about the same size as this would this work for Reuben,

or, potentially, Reuben and Theo together.

We could have the smaller room, could be just a bit of

an upstairs playroom for them, with some toys in.

And then the guest room overlooking that beautiful view out the back would be perfect, wouldn't it?

Yeah, absolutely.

So, the house gets a general thumbs-up,

even though the cosy character isn't entirely to Sabrina's taste.

Outside, though, she gets the garden she wanted,

with its pretty lawn and paved terrace.

To the rear of the garden are two separate outbuildings.

The first includes a bright and sunny garden room,

a huge games room with a small en-suite shower

and then, at the back, a double garage.

The building could be converted into a holiday let in the future,

subject to planning permission.

A second, smaller outbuilding is currently being used as a gym.

Now, whilst the land, which amounts to 2/3 of an acre,

might not be suitable for a smallholding,

there are other options for keeping animals nearby.

So, there we go - that's it.

That's the package. Our tour is pretty much done.

One of the key elements you were looking for was this idea of land and space.

We haven't got acres.

However, the farmer who owns all the land around here, some 400 acres,

is very keen to rent land out,

at roughly about £100 an acre per year.

Well, let's get down to the tricky bit - the money.

You've got 900 to 950, Sabrina.

Where do you think property number one comes, when set against that?

I'd say maybe something like 830,000.

830?

-I'll give you a clue - that's a very optimistic 830.

-OK.

Jamie, come on.

Maybe we're looking at more like 850?

-This is on the market for £875,000.

-OK.

However, I don't think 850 is probably out of range, really.

So, happy?

-Very happy.

-We'll give you a little bit more time.

Go and explore the house at your leisure,

and I will catch up with you a little bit later. Off you go.

Lovely, thank you.

So, priced at £75,000 below our top budget, our first house

is a handsome, 18th-century brick-and-thatch character property,

which was extended and remodelled around 12 years ago.

Part of the extension includes an open-plan kitchen,

and the four bedrooms provide plenty of space for the children.

Outside, there's an outbuilding which is ripe for development

and, in addition to the pretty garden,

there are options nearby to rent land for animals.

I think it was a really, really great start.

I love the location, the gardens,

the outbuildings and the potential for you could do with that.

The inside was definitely lighter than I was expecting

but, in some of the rooms, like the sitting-room and the dining room,

They're very beautiful old beams,

but they can feel a little bit oppressive hanging over your head.

People always talk about having this gut reaction to,

"Yeah, this is the house for me."

I'm not sure I got that.

The kitchen I absolutely loved,

but, actually, as we continued through the house,

I think that feeling probably lessened slightly.

How are we doing, then?

-Good.

-That was perfect timing.

-Seen enough?

-Yeah, yeah.

So, one down, two more to come tomorrow,

including our Mystery House.

Maybe we've kept the best till last.

Who knows? Come on, let's go.

As the day draws to a close,

it's a chance for our buyers

to reflect on their property journey so far.

It's the second day of our property search

with Sabrina and Jamie from south London.

With their generous £950,000 budget,

we're looking for a Wiltshire country home

with land for them and their two young children.

Coming up, two more houses...

I think if we brought the boys to all of the houses,

-this would be the one they'd choose.

-Oh, absolutely!

..and I get to grips with some handy regal attire.

-So, give us a date on that one.

-This is about 1559.

That's astonishing.

Our first offering this morning, house number two,

I think, could really work.

And then, of course, we finish up with our Mystery House.

Now, that will be interesting to see what they make of that one.

With a bit of TLC, who knows?

It may just give them a little bit too much.

But, before that, our second offering,

and we're heading towards the market town of Malmesbury.

This historic hilltop settlement

is said to be the oldest continually inhabited town in England,

and notable landmarks include Malmesbury Abbey,

founded in the 7th century,

and the 15th-century market cross,

one of the best-preserved in the country.

The attractive high street is lined with an array of independent shops,

and there are a number of primary schools in the area to choose from.

House number two is situated just outside the popular town,

with views over open countryside towards the abbey.

Well, what about this lot?

Wow! The whole thing?!

The whole thing. JAMIE AND SABRINA LAUGH

Now, you wanted edge of village.

-Yeah.

-We've got you edge of Malmesbury.

-Oh, wow!

-ALL LAUGH

-Wow!

-Look at that!

-That's incredible!

-That is amazing!

And then, of course, there's the house itself.

Clearly, it had some agricultural origins,

but it's been much embellished over the years.

The most recent addition is that wing, there.

This, I think, is more for you, this one. It's...

really contemporary, very funky inside,

-has lots of character, but of a more modern sort.

-OK.

A different proposition to number one.

-Jamie, what do you reckon?

-I think it's beautiful.

I absolutely love it. The, kind of, the farmhouse style is lovely.

Let's see what you think, come on.

The original part of our second house dates to the 19th century

and was believed to be a barn.

During its conversion five years ago,

it was made energy-efficient with solar panels,

and renovated with modern living in mind.

The focal point of this house is an open-plan kitchen/diner,

which I'm hoping will be right up Sabrina's street.

Now, how funky is this, Sabrina? SABRINA LAUGHS

This is the place to start, I think.

-BOTH:

-Wow!

-The style's not quite our style.

It's a little bit more contemporary.

I thought that you'd go for this kind of fresh, contemporary look, actually.

-I think we're a bit more traditional.

-We are, yeah.

-We're a bit more fuddy-duddies than you think.

-THEY LAUGH

Fuddy-duddy's OK. That's probably me, too.

But what I like about it, the way they've furnished it,

you've got a nice mixture of the really contemporary units

and then some nice, you know, characterful pieces of furniture.

Absolutely. I think the space would work.

-Yeah.

-It would work really well.

You know, I could be cooking the boys' lunch,

they could be just playing in the same room.

-It's exactly what we're looking for, isn't it?

-Yeah, absolutely.

I'd never have thought this kitchen would be too modern,

but at least they're imagining how family life could play out

in this vast living space.

Just off the entrance hallway

is a spacious utility room and a downstairs washroom,

with the sitting room located in a recent extension.

Now, this, to me, is where the whole thing gets a lot cosier -

these lovely beams, you know, engineered oak floor.

Beautiful. Another absolutely amazing view, as well.

-Yeah.

-There's one thing we'd always said,

that it would be amazing to have a brook running alongside the prop...

-you know, a house, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

-It's probably only thing that wasn't on your huge wish list.

-Absolutely.

I know. Well, we didn't mention it but, yeah, that was a secret dream.

Yeah, so that's really amazing.

Of the four bedrooms here, two are on the ground floor,

at either end of the lounge,

and both feature a continuation of the large-window design

overlooking the brook.

Each has its own dedicated en-suite bathroom,

so either would make an excellent guest room.

Beyond the kitchen/diner is an additional room

currently being used as a children's play area.

But the remaining two bedrooms

are upstairs, in the original part of the house,

and include a single bedroom,

which is served by a stylish family bathroom, as well as the master.

Now, this is the oldest part of the building.

This would have been the old agricultural bit.

-So, you can see these lovely beams coming through, which is rather nice.

-Beautiful.

Bit more, sort of, history and character here.

-This is the master.

-Mm-hm.

It's not en suite like the others are,

but it has this fantastic bathroom next door

with a kind of freestanding bath in it,

really nice double shower,

and, at the other end of the corridor, the smallest room,

which may be for the children at the moment.

So they'd be next to you.

Yeah, I mean, I think that would work really well, certainly now, while the kids are little.

Erm, we could be a bit tucked away up here, closer to them,

-and then, perhaps, as they got bigger we might want to move downstairs, I think.

-Yeah.

So, outside space -

let's see what you think of this.

I think Jamie and Sabrina are really warming to our second offering

and the options it gives them.

Outside, at the front of the house, there's a further outbuilding.

As well as providing garage space,

on the first floor there's an annexe which is open-plan,

with a separate kitchen and shower room that could make a potential holiday let.

At the rear of the house,

the land fans out from a terraced patio area and includes

a well-maintained lawn, a vegetable patch with raised beds,

a greenhouse and an area of garden for the children.

Beyond the fence bordering the lawn is a decent paddock for alpacas.

All in all, there's one and three-quarter acres of land with this place.

There we go. I love this view of the property, I have to say.

-Yeah.

-It's fantastic, isn't it?

So, have I either of you got an idea as to what this may cost you?

You've got 900 to 950. Go on, then.

I think I would say 950.

Jamie?

Maybe I can be optimistic and go for 935.

Another bit of optimism, from you this time. OK.

Well, I'm not going to labour it or keep you in suspense,

it is £950,000.

It's an incredible house.

-It is.

-Incredible.

-Have a quick whizz around,

and I'll catch up with you shortly.

-Go that way.

-Thank you.

-See you later.

At the very top end of their budget,

our second house,

a former 19th-century barn,

has been stylishly remodelled

in recent years,

providing contemporary

living spaces inside.

As well as a large kitchen/diner,

the property comes

with four bedrooms,

two of those on the ground floor,

overlooking a brook.

The 1.75 acre plot

includes a paddock for animals,

but the real bonus is that

the property lies within

walking distance of Malmesbury,

which has schooling options

for the children.

The house definitely has the whole package

for everything we were looking for. The land is amazing.

We were talking...we might do a bit of glamping with a yurt or something,

and it's such a beautiful spot,

I think people would love to stay here.

House number two is a beautiful house.

Inside, the modern look of it isn't, necessarily, mine or Sabrina's taste

but you could look past that, see the potential in the rooms...

It was very interesting, sort of, the layout,

how the rooms flowed off each other.

It was great.

Ah! How are we doing, chaps?

-Good.

-Good.

-What do you think of that, then?

Yeah, it's a great space, loads of potential. Really beautiful.

Good. One on the list, I think, for you to really think about.

And look at that view, come on.

So, one more property to come.

-Where to next, then?

-The Mystery.

Yes, come on!

Well, guys, are you happy with what we've been able to show you so far

with only one property left to see?

The houses we've seen so far were really beautiful,

but they were both very much finished,

so it would be quite exciting to see something

where we could make our mark a little bit more.

Well, our Mystery House certainly allows you to do that

and, I think, it doesn't lose sight

of your ambitions to become smallholders.

Yeah, that sounds great. Can't wait to see it.

But will it be too much of an undertaking?

It's the closest of our houses to Bath,

and is located in the village of Colerne.

Affectionately known as "the village on the hill",

due to its elevated position at 545 feet above sea level,

Colerne is within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,

and enjoys stunning panoramic views over Wiltshire's Box Valley.

Today, it is well served with local amenities,

including a grocery store,

public house, and a primary school with a good rating from Ofsted.

Our Mystery House is located on the fringes of the village,

at the end of a long driveway,

and offers our couple the land they wanted

and the chance to put their personal stamp on their new home.

So, at last, we can reveal the Mystery House.

There you go. What do you think of that, then?

-Wow, it's huge!

-SABRINA LAUGHS

Impressive.

The reason it's the Mystery House

is because I'm hoping it will combine

the best of what we now think you both want.

So, it's got a slightly cottagey aspect,

with these lovely borders and the setting,

but it also has something of the grand about it.

The way it's been converted and furnished,

it has this sort of manorial feel.

The other thing to point out about what we're looking at here

is that this, actually, is the back.

-OK.

-The front's even prettier.

Come and have a look at this.

Around 150 years old,

the stone-built barn was converted into a home in the early 1990s,

and is nestled between two sections of pretty garden.

The rear is particularly well thought out -

a garden designer's dream.

There we are. Come over here.

If you get back from it a bit,

you get an even better view.

SABRINA LAUGHS

Still those big proportions.

-That's true, isn't it? Yeah.

-Amazing.

-Yeah.

I love the fact that it's kind of nestled down in this valley.

Feels very sheltered and secluded.

-Absolutely.

-I can't wait to see the inside.

-Absolutely.

Come on, then.

Whilst the Mystery House certainly delivers on land,

Jamie and Sabrina may have to think laterally

about its internal arrangements.

So, through the hallway...

..into here.

I thought we'd start with the, kind of, manorial living room

-with this slightly, sort of, Georgian twist, perhaps.

-Yeah.

With those very imposing beams,

but, still, it's got the really high ceilings.

-I do love a bit of ceiling height.

-Yeah, you do.

-Yeah, I do.

You just get such a feeling of space, and I think, for us,

this would, literally, just be a question of redecorating,

which should be quite an easy job, really.

And the whole thing flows. You've got the hallway there. Front door, obviously.

You come through those double doors into the living room,

and then, through here, you've got the dining room, there.

Again, with lovely doors out to the garden where we started.

Yeah, it's lovely.

All that light coming in through those doors is fantastic.

But this is handy, because it leads right onto the kitchen.

Now, the kitchen itself is curious, cos you sort of step up...into it.

It's a great space.

Yeah, it's nice. I can kind of see, maybe with a bit of modernisation,

maybe a little bit of reconfiguration,

I think this could, actually, be a really nice kitchen.

-You're not convinced.

-I'm not...

I'm not quite as convinced as Jamie,

I think just because I do more of the day-to-day cooking

when the kids are around, lunches and things.

So, having these steps here, you know, that's a bit of a hazard

and if they're going to be playing in the...

you know, in the main reception room,

that's on the other side of the house from here.

In terms of how we'd practically use it, it doesn't work as well.

So, Sabrina has concerns about the ground-floor configuration,

which also includes a utility room just off the kitchen.

Upstairs, it provides our buyers with four bedrooms

arranged off a central landing.

These include a good-sized double,

a single with built-in cupboards and a twin,

so lots of options for their sons.

There's also a separate study and a large family bath and shower room.

Which leaves the final piece of the puzzle up here for them.

There we go. This is your bit,

and that's because you get the dressing room, here... SABRINA LAUGHS

You can share it.

And also the en-suite bath and shower room, over there.

That's a really good size.

Of all the master bedrooms we've seen in the three houses,

this is definitely the biggest and feels the most masterful.

Could you see yourselves in this one,

in this particular building, do you think?

I like the building, but I think, maybe...

the layout - we'd have to work that out.

So, better reactions to the upstairs

and, while Jamie and Sabrina

may have to work out the ground-floor layout,

I think the land here may sugar the pill,

as, outside, there are seven acres to play with.

In addition to the two sections of garden we've already seen,

there's a large gravel driveway and a separate garage block,

and just uphill from that

is a huge sloping paddock, making up most of the land,

providing shelter and space for possible alpacas.

Now, believe me, it's worth the climb...

cos the view of the house and your land is just wonderful.

The house itself is set down a bit,

but there's a real feeling of open space, here, I think.

Yeah, absolutely. This is kind of the best view of the house.

You can really see what it's about when you get up here.

So, for the final time of asking this week,

you've got £900,000 - £950,000 - what do you think

our Mystery House is on the market for, Jamie?

I'm going to go with 895.

895, yeah. Sabrina?

I was thinking maybe something like 900, as well.

£900,000.

You're both, I'm afraid, being

a little bit too optimistic, once again. This is on the market...

-for £950,000...

-OK.

..but, having spoken to the agent, I think...

you know, they're not going to give it away,

but there is a conversation to be had.

I think provided it starts with a nine,

you might be in with a fighting chance.

OK. Yeah, interesting.

Well, look, take some time.

Go and have another look at the property

and I will come and catch up with you a little bit later.

-Off you go.

-Brilliant, thanks very much.

At the top end of their budget,

the Mystery House is a converted barn, built around 150 years ago

and refurbished in the '90s, with four good-sized bedrooms.

With a high ceiling in the living room,

but a cosy cottagey feel throughout,

it appeals to Jamie and Sabrina's different preferences on style.

And although they may want to put their own stamp on the place,

seven acres of land gives them lots of outside options.

The house has got so much potential. It needs...

I think we'd probably want to do quite a lot of work to it.

I could imagine really stripping it back,

but it's quite exciting, actually,

thinking about everything you could do here.

In terms of the land that we were thinking of,

I think this house definitely gives us

the closest to what we were imagining.

You could do so many different things - have the alpacas,

some yurts and caravans, all sorts of things we could do out here.

I don't think it's quite there yet,

but it's absolutely got the potential

to be something that could work so well for our family.

With a bit more imagination, I think this could be an amazing house.

We've given you some cracking properties this week.

-Time to think about them, I guess.

-Yeah, absolutely.

Then get your chequebook. Come on.

In the Wiltshire town of Warminster

is the headquarters of one of the UK's leading glove manufacturers.

Established in the late 18th century,

Dents have been making gloves for the rich, the famous and royalty

for over 230 years.

It's just one of a handful of companies

still manufacturing leather gloves using time-honoured techniques.

I've come to the firm's museum to find out more

about the county's rich history of glove-making.

I'm meeting CEO Deborah Moore.

-You've been making gloves for a very long time, haven't you?

-1777.

The company started in Worcester.

John Dent, who eventually brought his sons, William and John, into the business.

And why did the factory move from Worcestershire to Wiltshire in the West Country?

I think we followed the tanneries.

The tanneries came down to Yeovil

and many of the glove companies actually followed.

Now, you've got your own museum here,

which contains many items, many gloves.

My eye has been caught by

the gold that is glittering off the table next to us, here.

What have you got out for us today?

We've got two gloves here.

First of all, we've got Queen Elizabeth I's glove.

That's astonishing. So, give us a date on that one.

This is about 1559.

-1559!

-This is her coronation glove.

Look how slender the fingers are.

And you would see very long fingers,

but they would have stuffed the ends of the fingers, here.

Her fingers would not actually have been that shape?

No, they wouldn't.

These gloves were, of course, acquired for the museum's collection,

but, in 1953, the company was asked to produce a similar set of gloves

for the coronation of our present Queen.

Part of the coronation ceremony is that the monarch is given a glove,

and it's the right-handed glove in this case, and she touches it...

-Can I pick it up?

-You can, yes - obviously with gloves.

Obviously with other gloves on.

I suppose, never really worn.

No, they haven't been.

But these look like they have been through the wars, as it were.

Two left-handed gloves.

These were Lord Nelson's gloves.

No! He famously lost his right arm, didn't he?

So, two left-hand gloves.

Today, gloves here are still made

just as they were over 100 years ago.

Each pair in their Heritage Collection is handmade from leather,

and there around 70 people working to produce 50,000 pairs each year.

Now, you're busy stitching together these 24 components.

I am, yeah. I've already put the thumb in...

..and now I'm measuring up the fourchettes.

The fourchettes are the bits that go in between the finger,

that actually make it fit your finger,

and if you look at the top, where we bend it back,

you get a very small little V.

And if you don't get the V, then you haven't done it right.

It requires years of practice,

but Sally is very kindly allowing me to have a go

on the 80-year-old sewing machine.

Just put your fingers there, and just hold there...

-Hold that straight.

-You can see where the needle is going to go.

-Yeah.

-Go up on the edge, and you'll be fine.

Now, Sally can put it all together in half an hour, but me,

I'm taking a little longer.

-We'll have to have you here to do a few.

-HE LAUGHS

Somehow I think it would take me a little bit longer than half an hour!

Having been given an inside look into the production process,

it's been interesting to see how these historic gloves

are still being made in such a time-honoured way,

keeping those handcrafted skills alive.

Well, this week, we have shown Jamie and Sabrina

three fabulous properties,

with a combined asking price

of £2,775,000.

And despite their fabulous budget,

they can, of course, afford to buy only one of them.

But which one?

Well, let's go and ask them,

and have some tea and scones while we're about it.

Well, look at you in this lovely, rather regal setting.

It's the moment we've all been waiting for. It's decision time.

Have you had a chance to think about it all?

-Yeah, we have.

-Had a bit of a chat, bit of a mull.

A bit of a mull.

We did give you three, I think, really interesting options.

So, which one, if any of them, have you alighted upon?

I think we'd probably like to have another look at two of them.

Firstly, house number two.

That setting with that walk over the fields into Malmesbury

was just spectacular, and the beautiful land behind,

so we'd definitely like to go back and take a second look there.

But you also liked property number three, our Mystery House, of course.

We did. I think we'd like to come back and have a think about that

with costings and how that would work financially.

Looking at particularly the Mystery House

and seeing what that offers in terms of scale of land -

that really has confirmed to me

that having a bit more land is an exciting prospect.

So, potentially, two more revisits, as it were.

When's it going to happen?

Well, I think we'll probably try and come back in the next weekend or so.

Maybe stay in Malmesbury, have a chance

to properly look around there and get to know that area.

Best of luck. Let us know how you get on.

Oh, thank you very much, and thank you so much

for showing us, you know, three such unique properties.

It's given us a lot to think about, as well.

Well, it's been a week of wonderful properties,

high numbers and even loftier ambitions.

And now, with any luck, Jamie and Sabrina

are that little bit closer to realising some,

if not all, of theirs.

I'll see you next time.

Jamie and Sabrina revisited our second house

and are still considering their options.

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