Kent Escape to the Country

This tiny medieval church stands in an eerie landscape that has been

nicknamed the "Fifth Continent",

but where would you find this mysterious waterlogged place?

Well, stick around and I will enlighten you shortly.

Today, a young international family are on the hunt for a country

retreat away from England's capital.

Things get off to a positive start...

-Ahhh.

-Ooh.

-Whoa!

These are the noises we want to hear.

-Yes.

-That's lovely.

But there's discord when it comes to the size of the estate.

There's space for chickens.

Sure, but probably not a herd of cattle.

-Right.

-Yes!

THEY LAUGH

Today, I'm in Kent on Romney Marsh

and this is Thomas a Becket Church in

Fairfield, one of 14 similar churches in the neighbourhood

which weren't always used just for worship.

Because we're just a couple of metres above sea-level here,

back in the 18th century, smugglers -

or "owlers" as they were called

because of their nocturnal activities -

used to hide their contraband in the churches.

The wetlands here at Romney are also home to a native breed of sheep,

who I'll be meeting later in the show,

but let's take a look at some of the other wonders in the county of Kent.

Sitting below the Thames Estuary,

Kent shares its inland border with Greater London

and meets the English Channel to the east.

The unique landscape of Romney Marsh

is the largest coastal wetland in the south of England.

Reclaimed from the sea, it was dubbed the "Fifth Continent"

by 19th-century writer and cleric Richard Harris Barham.

Kent is also known as the Garden of England,

due to its wealth of orchards and crops.

A third of the county falls within two

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty that stretch the coast.

In the High Weald lies the handsome village of Goudhurst,

whose 14th century church tower overlooks

the whitewashed timber-clad buildings that line

its attractive high street,

which played host to the Tour de France in 2007.

Nearby is Kent's historic spa town Royal Tunbridge Wells,

named over four centuries ago after a natural mineral spring.

It later became Queen Victoria's holiday destination of choice.

At its centre, the Pantiles form a colonnaded Regency promenade,

now home to an array of shops and eateries.

So it's true to say that with its diverse and rural backdrop

and striking architectural hallmarks,

Kent combines country life with commuting possibilities.

With this beautiful wide-open landscape,

it's hard to believe that you could commute into London.

But with towns like Tunbridge Wells only 40 miles from the centre of the

capital, and less than an hour on the train,

that's exactly what you could do,

although you'd pay a hefty premium for the privilege.

The average price for a detached house here in Kent is £468,000,

which is 41% above the national figure.

You could understand why young families wanting to leave the capital are

keen to buy in this county,

and that's exactly why our buyers today have chosen Kent.

Full-time mum Christina and her city worker husband Anthony have had a

pretty international relationship so far.

Their paths first crossed in Christina's home country, Germany,

-eight years ago.

-We met in Munich, back in 2000 and...

-Nine, darling.

-Nine.

We met at a beer festival,

don't massively recollect a huge amount of our first encounter.

Their romance played out across the world when Anthony was transferred

to Brazil, and they married three years ago.

The pair finally settled together in Battersea, south London, last year,

but now it's time to move on from Anthony's second-floor former bachelor pad.

We've got a little daughter, Amelia.

She's almost one and a half years old now.

She's obviously one of the main reasons why we want to move,

because it's nice living here,

but what we're really longing for is a garden.

With Amelia getting older, and hopefully number two at some point soon,

we need more space,

and although we both want a garden, we want different sized gardens.

I'd quite like to have something maybe a bit bigger and Christina,

I think, is looking for something about that big.

The size of the garden isn't the only thing

this couple don't see eye to eye on.

So Anthony and I disagree on almost everything in life,

like big things, like where to move to, just as well as very small things,

as in do you like left or right,

I would say left and Anthony would say right.

But they have agreed that Kent's where they want to put down roots.

Unfortunately, I've got another 30 plus years of working to do,

so I need to be within close proximity to London.

What I know of Kent,

we've been there for a few weekends and it's a beautiful county,

with lots of sort of open spaces,

whilst still having those connections to London.

And hopefully we can find something that we both like.

After living in a busy metropolis,

Christina and Anthony are keen to get stuck into local life,

free up more time and enjoy their hobbies.

I would definitely like to move somewhere where there is a sort of

village-y feel and that sense of community,

a local sports team or getting a pint glass behind the bar or something.

That sounds pretty cool to me.

Anthony is a fantastic cook.

I enjoy cooking as well, although Anthony doesn't like my cooking,

but I love baking.

I really like things like sewing, I like decorating things.

I would quite like to, I don't know, join a choir maybe,

or something like that, where I could really meet people and build up,

yeah, long-term friendships.

Although Anthony is a city boy,

Christina's hankering after the lifestyle she knew growing up.

All throughout our relationship,

Anthony has made fun of me for being a girl from the country and having

grown up in the countryside in the middle of nowhere.

We would love for Amelia to have the same experience.

Anthony may like teasing Christina but he's just as excited as she is

about their new country life.

Being able to, sort of, when you hit that train on Friday night and escaping...

..the big smoke and getting out into the countryside is something that

I'm fairly certain I would look forward to massively.

Our house-hunt will take into account Anthony's need to commute to London for work.

But before we get off the starting blocks,

I'm meeting up with them both in the county to understand better what they

would like from their new family home.

So I've heard on the wire that you two never agree about anything,

so I'd better ask both of you, what are you looking for,

in terms of the style of the house?

Hopefully something that is four maybe five bedrooms.

I think we would like something that has some character.

Yeah, well, I do agree on the number of bedrooms.

I would like a garden that's manageable.

Anthony would really like land.

Ah, how much land are you talking about?

I did start off, I think, at five acres, and I think it's been sort of...

..squashed to a more manageable perhaps one.

And what about the style of the house?

What I would like is something that is a bit open,

so that children can run around and I don't need to open every door to

-find them.

-Any other major disagreements?

-Location, what about location?

-Location wise, yes.

So Anthony would be quite happy just in a forest on his own,

nobody around.

-With my land.

-While I'd be happier if I had at least some neighbours,

could maybe walk or at least cycle to a nursery, primary school.

Let's talk about your commute.

-You're obviously going to be in and out of London every day.

-Yep.

Ideally I'd like to be able to cycle to the station.

If I could do door-to-door in sort of an hour 15-ish, that would be great.

If it's a wonderful place, maybe slightly longer,

but definitely no longer than an hour and a half door-to-door.

Remind us what your budget is.

Yes, so our budget would be a maximum of a million.

£1 million is an enormous budget, but sadly in Kent,

especially an hour away from London, it gets eaten up quite quickly.

Well, it's a beautiful area, it really is,

and some great houses we've got lined up for you.

The only thing is, you have to fall in love with them.

No pressure! But no time like the present,

so let's get in the car and go see them.

-Brilliant.

-Come with me.

-Looking forward to it!

Christina and Anthony have a budget of £1 million

to spend on a character property

with bright open living spaces and 4-5 bedrooms.

Outside, they'd like a child-friendly garden

and a plot of land.

They don't want to be remote and need to be close to a station,

so Anthony can commute into London for work.

We've cherry picked a great range of properties for Christina and Anthony

to view, and after their tour of each I'll reveal the price,

once they've had a guess.

Finally, the Mystery House will require a head for compromise,

and if they are happy to veer slightly off piste,

they'll be greeted with a rather splendid package.

Our house-hunt around Kent begins in the village of Shipbourne.

The centre of this pretty village is in a conservation area

and St Giles' Church hosts a weekly farmers' market.

Nearby, the award-winning local dining pub lays claim to some rather

famous former residents...

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton are said to have been regulars.

Just over a mile and a half away in a rural setting,

we arrive at this red brick and tile property.

-House number one.

-Wow, OK.

What do you think?

-It looks big. Doesn't it?

-Yeah, it does actually, yeah.

It is big because it's not all of it.

-OK.

-Right.

-It is a semidetached property.

-Right, OK.

-For all sorts of reasons, not least the location,

because we are a 20 minute cycle ride from Tonbridge station.

-Right.

-So you could get to work in about an hour.

What are your first impressions?

It's nice, I like the style.

It's definitely got some character to it.

-Yes.

-I'd have to get my head around the semidetached thing,

but I'm interested to see what it looks like inside.

I like the windows up there as well, that looks nice.

-Let's have a look inside.

-Let's do it.

This attractive house dates back to the beginning of the 1900s

and started life as workers cottages.

Inside, those humble origins have disappeared,

as it was extended and completely renovated to a high standard three years ago.

We're starting our tour at the end of the long hallway in an extended

L-shaped kitchen.

-Ah!

-Ooh.

-Whoa!

Those are the noises we want to hear.

-Yes.

-That's lovely.

-I would not have expected that from the outside.

And you wanted a big open-plan family room.

-Yeah.

-Here we go.

-I've rarely seen one as lovely as this.

Oh, God, this is nice.

-Very nice.

-And up there you've got a boot room and a downstairs toilet,

so when you come in from your big walks...

OK. It's very bright, I mean, with the windows, the big doors,

and at the same time it's very cosy, which I find amazing.

Anthony, you're very quiet, is that a good sign or a bad sign?

No, no, absolutely a good sign.

It is, I mean I do a lot of the cooking, in fact most of the cooking.

That's pretty much a perfect kitchen, actually.

Well, things couldn't have got off to a better start.

I hope the positive vibes continue as we had across the hall

to the sitting room.

Well, someone is certainly singing its praises...

BIRD WHISTLES

This is the original dimensions of the cottages,

so this would have been the main sitting room.

-Nice and cosy, actually, I mean, it's...

-It is, yeah.

Even to sit and read a nice book, it's really, really nice.

The fact that the kitchen has that shape and size...

..takes away the need for having a massive sitting room.

It's still big enough to have people in here, as well.

-Yeah.

-When we have guests.

Also on the ground floor, back across the hallway, there's a study,

but we're continuing our tour upstairs,

where the three double bedrooms off a central landing make use of a

stylish bathroom.

There are two bedrooms at the front of the house,

one with a decorative fireplace.

But we're heading to the largest of the three bedrooms on this floor.

This is what they're using as the master, because it has an en-suite.

Oh, lovely. Nice.

-Lovely.

-Yes.

-So you also have these French doors that go out onto a flat

roof, which they've put some Astroturf on,

but you could also put railings around and have it as a beautiful balcony.

It's very bright, again, just like downstairs, actually.

So, I know that the bedroom's got to be German sized,

did this kind of fit the bill?

It does, it definitely does.

No, it's big, it's a great size.

Yeah, I think is, this kind of size is perfect, actually.

Up in the loft space, there's a generous fourth bedroom,

complete with its own seating area and en suite shower room.

Now to the outside, which comes in at two thirds of an acre.

The garden is big enough for little Amelia to run around and includes

various seating areas and interesting features.

There's also a garage and a cabin, currently used as a music room,

but it could be an office or a sewing room.

Come on out into your land, Anthony, into your land.

-Yes.

-My land.

-Yes.

-OK.

-You're right in the middle of the forest,

which is kind of what you wanted.

-Pretty much, yep.

-But also you've got this fantastic outside area,

the fitted sinks and a bar and a washer.

Amazing. Is that a hot tub here?

-Hot tub.

-Amazing!

The key question here, at this point, I always ask, house prices,

whether you could afford it. How much is this?

I think it is under our budget, because it's a semidetached.

I would go...940?

I'm going to go a little lower actually, I'm going to go 925.

OK. So, this house

is on the market for £950,000.

-I win, good.

-Why don't you go in and have another look around,

because we whizzed around and I will meet you at the front.

Thank you.

This beautifully appointed early 20th-century property

is priced £50,000 under budget.

It has got a huge kitchen-diner,

four bedrooms and a generous garden with impressive entertaining areas.

And it's just an hour's commute to London.

Wow! Look at that.

It's huge.

-Massive up here.

-That's very cool actually,

-isn't it?

-It's a very cosy space.

I really like this house, I think it's very nice and airy,

it's got a very open feel to it.

We spend a lot of time during the day in the kitchen,

and the dining room and this house has a lovely kitchen-diner.

I think it's nice, it is a lovely house,

they have done it very nicely inside,

I love the fact that it's very close to Tonbridge,

the commute from here would be perfect.

I think I'm struggling to get rid of the semidetached piece.

Are you all done?

Yes, we are. Thank you.

It's a good first house.

-Very good.

-Let's put that out of your mind,

-because we are going to see the second one.

-OK.

Given Anthony's aspirations to cultivate his own land,

Kent is a great choice.

Its diverse and fertile terrain is home to ancient forests,

grasslands and meadows,

meaning an abundance of flora and fauna is to be found here.

With a wealth of wild food growing in these landscapes,

it is a seasoned forager's dream.

But novices definitely need guidance on knowing where to find it.

Phil Brown has been making the most of his Kentish surroundings since he

was a small child and has foraged the land for the past 25 years.

He runs courses in bushcraft,

wild food and survival skills near Ashford

and our food enthusiasts have come to meet him in the 1000 acres

of Kentish woodland he teaches from to find out more.

We love food, but we know absolutely nothing about foraging.

-Right.

-Can you tell us a little bit more about it?

I think the easiest way is to start off by learning the easy to identify

species, especially things like nettle,

that is a really good starting point.

-Food with nettles?

-Absolutely food with nettles.

It's a real superfood.

Packed full of vitamins and minerals and very, very good for you.

But always remember with foraging wild foods,

if you are in any doubt about your identification, then to leave it out.

If you know what you're looking for,

there is a plentiful supply of edible plants, flowers,

nuts and fungi growing in Britain's woodlands,

hedgerows and coastal plains,

each with a different taste and reputed health benefits.

Kent's woodlands offer rich pickings as the canopies are copist,

allowing sunlight in which encourages plant growth.

You know, what I've got here in with the nettles,

I've got this little flower.

-Oh, how nice! Pretty.

-This is called lady's smock.

This is kind of like the English wasabi.

What I tend to do is eat the flowers.

OK.

-Wow.

-Yeah.

-What do you think?

-Yeah, I get the wasabi, definitely.

So is there a particularly good season

-for finding ingredients in the wood?

-Yeah, absolutely.

In the springtime, and in the autumntime as well,

they are the two best times of the year.

What is one of your favourite things to prepare from stuff

-you have found foraging?

-So, my favourite meal,

funnily enough, is what we are going to be cooking today.

We're going to make a wild garlic pesto

and make it into a wild garlic tagliatelle.

In the springtime, vibrant and pungent wild garlic from the allium

family is one of the most prevalent wild foods.

As a relative of the chive,

its broad triangular leaves are found in woodland with moist soil.

There is so much around here!

How do you know what is actually good and what is bad?

It's about getting in there and having a really close look.

And also making sure that when we collect the wild garlic,

that we don't get any rogue species in amongst that.

There can be very similar looking leaves that can really be quite nasty.

One of the best ways of identifying wild garlic apart from its appearance

is by its smell.

Rubbing the leaves between your fingers releases the unmistakable aroma.

Yeah, you get a really strong garlic smell.

Just to show you here, guys, if you take a look at this leaf here,

growing in amongst this, you can see the veins running off,

this one is Arum maculatum.

And that is really quite poisonous, OK?

And these two grow in very, very close proximity to one another,

so that is why we are going to be very, very careful when we gather.

With the wild garlic collected, it is time to sample nature's harvest.

Across in the woodland camp, preparations are underway.

Well done, well done.

What we are going to be using with the wild garlic,

some sunflower seeds and some smoked sea salt,

with an extra virgin olive oil and then we can add it to our tagliatelle

in a moment. OK?

Sounds good. So what else can you use the wild garlic for?

It can be chopped fine and put into bread and baked, it can be used for

flavouring stews, but it is quite a pungent flavour.

Next, sunflower seeds are added...

..and the wild garlic pesto is ready to be added to the pasta.

-Who's hungry, then?

-I am!

I'm starving right now!

-Quite a lot.

-There's loads.

-Look at that. Wonderful.

-Yeah, that looks so good.

And after all that hard work...

Guten appetit.

Bon appetit.

-Looking good.

-Hmm, that's lovely.

-Lovely garlic.

-Wow! That's exceptional.

-Yay to foraging.

-So, will you be foraging that again?

I'd definitely do that again.

Thank you so much for spending the time with us today, this food is amazing.

Maybe you can hook us up with a few more recipes.

-My pleasure.

-That would be great.

Having sampled the rich pickings of

Kent's wild places, it is time to return to our house-hunt.

Next, we are travelling to the village of Leeds.

Set on a hillside,

locals benefit from a handful of amenities including a charming

17th-century pub,

a village hall and St Nicholas' Church

which has the second-largest Norman tower in England.

The local station is just two miles away from our second house.

Here we are!

Yeah!

-Oh, brilliant.

-This is a property and a half.

It's a great location.

Your commute would be, it's about an hour on the train.

-OK.

-But, look what you get for that little bit longer on the train!

It's much, much bigger

than the last one. There is a lot more land.

-You're hitting the right notes.

-That sounds good, yes.

So, it's a space that you can grow into.

Yeah.

This charming converted barn is steeped in history.

It dates back to around the mid-16th century

and once belonged to nearby Leeds Castle.

Not only that, but bricks from local monasteries

demolished by Henry VIII were used to

build the barn and are over 600 years old.

We are going straight into the heart of the home where this huge

sitting-room is enough to make spirits soar.

-And here we are.

-Oh, wow!

-Oh, my God!

-Into the barn.

Wow, that's high.

-I didn't expect that.

-It feels like a church.

-It's huge.

-It was just one open space.

But all these rooms downstairs have been turned into bedrooms.

-Wow.

-Could you imagine turning this

-into a great big warm family living space?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, easily.

It's easier to think how you would put your imprint on a room like this

rather than something that was finished to a certain extent.

That is true, yeah. It's beautiful.

You could actually really just live on the ground floor and then as you

had more and more children, Anthony, you could just fill them up.

Yeah, that's true.

On the ground floor, all of the rooms fan out from the central living space

and just off to the right is a beautifully bright kitchen-diner.

It's a much more foursquare kitchen, good size.

When you work here on that lovely kitchen island

and I love the kitchen island, you can see into that massive room.

I think it is a good base level

that you could probably do quite a lot with.

You've also got a utility room there.

-Ah, nice.

-I think it is a great space, actually.

Yeah. And for now, we could move in and everything is there, everything works,

-there is nothing that we would need to do.

-Exactly. Absolutely.

On the ground floor, there is also a separate bathroom and two of six

bedrooms on offer - both doubles.

One is currently set out as a twin, with its own en suite shower room,

but we are exploring the larger one.

Come in.

It's unusual not having to climb stairs to show you a bedroom.

-Good size.

-En suite behind me here, but look.

-Look at the view.

-Oh, wow!

-Little river.

-It is a stream, almost inside the house.

It's a lovely thing to wake up to.

That is true, yeah. This bedroom would definitely work.

From what we have seen so far, it's probably what we wanted,

almost a blank canvas.

Can you imagine living here?

Does it feel homely?

I think it could. I think it very much could feel homely.

Well, there is plenty of space here as above us,

off the first floor landing, there are a further three bedrooms,

all with beautiful original beams and rafters AND views.

Two of the rooms have ensuites and there is an additional family bathroom.

What is more, there is a dedicated study room for Anthony.

Above this on the second floor off a stunning landing is the sixth bedroom

at one end and a storeroom at the other.

Now we've got a handle on the acres of living space inside,

let's survey what Anthony could enjoy outside.

You spotted the stream from the bedroom.

-Yes, indeed.

-The lovely feature runs down the side

but it's got this lovely safe fencing.

-That's good.

-Amelia-proof.

-Yes, that's good.

And then you have this garden.

Which is, you know, good size, again a blank canvas,

you could do pretty much whatever you like,

but this is only a fraction of your land.

-Oh, my God!

-It actually is all this land up here.

-Wow!

-So, it's a great 3.5 acre plot.

Which I guarantee you won't know what to do with.

I'll will give you a chance to go and look at it.

But what do you think this whole package costs?

-995.

-Yeah, I agree, I think it would be high up in our budget.

-I would say it's a million.

-SHE CHUCKLES

-Keep it simple.

-Yes!

You're both wrong.

This is on the market for exactly the same price as the last property,

£950,000.

-OK, right!

-Why don't you go and have a look at your land,

take as much time as you need to survey your estate and I'll be waiting

here to take you onwards and upwards.

So, see you tomorrow evening!

Yes, indeed, don't get lost!

This beautiful character barn would leave

£50,000 change from their budget.

Whilst offering a more than generous living space,

a large kitchen-diner and six bedrooms.

Outside, there is a sizeable safe garden for Amelia

and it's wrapped up in

around three and a half acres of land for Anthony.

It's massive!

-It's not that big!

-So what do you actually want to do with this, sorry,

or do you just want to own it?

I just want to own it. I can stand in the middle and say I own it!

This place is amazing.

It's so big, there's so much space, so much to discover in here.

What I really like about it are the beams,

which make everything look very cosy.

I really, really like that.

I love the open space, that is something that we could play with and use,

it does give us lots of options further down the track.

Well, I'm very impressed that you made it back from your safari trek

across your land before sundown.

-Yeah, just.

-Master of all I survey.

Well, that's your lot for this property, so today's finished,

we'll take some time out, get ready for tomorrow.

OK.

Dawn has broken on the second day

of our country property adventure in Kent.

Finding a home for Christina and Anthony from south London

and their young daughter Amelia.

They've got a healthy budget of £1 million

and for that they want something magnificent.

Still to come, there's our show-stopping Mystery House.

But there's a lovely, lovely fact.

It held four elephants.

-What?!

-SHE LAUGHS

Yes, I would have said that.

And I'll be meeting an adorable new arrival.

Oh, my God, it's the cutest thing ever!

Oh, it's a lovely spring day here on our second day house-hunting in Kent

with the equally lovely Christina and Anthony.

Now yesterday we had two good properties, lots of thoughts about those,

but I think the Mystery House may well stir things up

as it's designed to do.

It's a great period property, good commuting links into London,

it's not quite in Kent and there is one catch.

But will it be a catch too far for our house-hunters?

To the matter at hand, the Mystery House.

What do you think we are taking you to see?

Well, by following the path of the sun,

I think we're going in a different direction.

Ah, well spotted!

You think that is the mystery?

We're taking you to a different county? LAUGHTER

Maybe it's only got two bedrooms.

And the rest is yet to be built.

And a mobile home in the garden.

-Yes.

-Any fears of what we might be showing you?

I think Anthony would be more scared of a new build.

Yes. Probably.

Our mystery property takes us just outside the village of Smallfield.

This time crossing Kent's western border into Surrey.

Christina would get the amenities she is after, including a post office,

a doctor 's surgery, and a primary school,

plus a small array of independent shops.

For Anthony, the nearest station is only four miles away,

with journey times from here taking less than an hour to get into London.

At the end of a lane, we find our hotly anticipated final offering.

Down your little private drive.

-Yes. Nice.

-Into this cluster of houses.

Which one is the Mystery House?

It's this one!

-Wow.

-OK, wow!

So, obviously we have come across the border. We're no longer in Kent.

The catch is, Anthony, it does not have much land.

OK.

Space for chickens.

For sure. But probably not a herd of cattle.

-Right.

-Yes!

No, but it looks like something from a fairy tale.

The only fly in the ointment might be your lack of land.

-OK.

-But I am bracing you for that,

because I think everything else you see

is going to charm your pants off.

-Very nice.

-I hope.

Yeah.

Our mystery property was once a hay barn, and dating back to the mid-1500,

it's now Grade II listed.

We're entering straight into the altogether breathtaking and super-sized

sitting room, with its imposing vaulted and beamed ceiling.

-Oh!

-Whoa!

That's beautiful.

It is quite a space, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-But there's a lovely, lovely fact about this barn.

Which I think must make you buy it.

Which is, 40 years from the turn of the last century until about 1941,

it was the barn that held four elephants.

What?!

-A local circus...

-Yes, I would have said that, in just a minute.

A local circus kept four elephants in this barn.

-No way.

-Yeah.

That is wonderful.

So, let's talk about the space. It's a great big space.

-It is.

-This is zoned, so you've got the dining room opposite the kitchen,

a study area and then a sitting area,

a big opening where the carts would have come in.

Well, it looks gorgeous.

It has been done to an amazing standard, actually.

Let's look at the kitchen.

It's a slightly smaller kitchen.

Oh, but it's lovely.

-It's nice.

-It's big enough, definitely.

Lovely sort of much more open utility room with all the kind of white goods put behind cupboards.

-OK. Lovely.

-So the chef approves?

The chef approves, yeah. No, that looks lovely.

I like pretty much as is, actually.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, definitely.

-It's very nice.

As well as this impressive bespoke kitchen,

also on this floor and beyond the living area

there's a study and three double bedrooms,

all with inlaid wall beams.

There is one with an en suite bathroom,

and two with en suite shower rooms.

Then, moving upstairs to a mezzanine level,

there's an informal galleried sitting room,

and behind is the fourth and largest bedroom.

Mind your heads.

That is lovely.

Oh, wow!

With a great en suite.

Oh, wonderful.

-Bathtub.

-Yeah.

-I like that.

-Very nice.

-Look at these beams.

-Yeah.

Can imagine waking up to this.

-Beams aplenty.

-Yes.

I like it a lot, actually.

Good. Thumbs up for inside.

-Absolutely.

-Let's go outside and see if we can get over our land issues.

I do hope we can,

because this mystery barn does come with three garden areas -

one to the front, one to the side and one at the back.

It may not be acres and acres,

but there's plenty of room for a young family.

There's also a double garage with an office space above it.

Perhaps useful for Anthony.

But he's got to take a view on the lack of land.

You weren't joking when you...

The land being slightly smaller.

Bearing in mind the house is beautiful is something that...

..I think we would have to think about.

So, what do you think the price tag for this is?

It can't be cheap.

I am going to say...

995.

I'm going to go a little lower.

I am going to say the same as the last two, 950.

In this case, you should have listened to your wife,

-because she's spot on.

-Ah-ha!

£995,000.

Why don't you go back inside

-and we can meet up once you have racked your brains?

-Sounds good.

Let's go.

Our stunning mystery barn conversion beautifully combines old and new to

create a unique family setting and still leaves £5,000 in the kitty.

It's got a huge open-plan living space of four bedrooms,

and although it doesn't come with land,

there are options for entertaining.

Plus the commute to London totals under an hour and a half.

I think it is a beautiful house, without a shadow of a doubt.

Character going back hundreds and hundreds of years.

It has been refurbished to an unbelievable standard.

This house presents us with a huge dilemma.

It really does. Because the inside is just so beautiful, breathtaking,

everything I could wish for in a barn conversion, really.

OK. I know it's a big dilemma, this one.

-It is.

-But let's put it to one side for the moment,

-because we are going to go find a place to gather our thoughts about all the houses.

-OK.

-OK.

Looking out over the

English Channel, along Kent's southern coastline,

is Romney Marsh, an area of flat,

low-lying land where indigenous Romney sheep have grazed since the 13th century.

The Marsh is well-known for the qualities of its pastures,

and the Romney breed for the quality of its fleece.

It was recognised as a pedigree in 1896.

During the Second World War,

half of the area's 200,000 sheep were sent to Yorkshire,

and arable farming took over in the region.

But now wool from this pocket of Kent is making a comeback.

This is thanks, in part,

to sixth generation sheep farmer Paul Boulden and his wife Kristina,

who produce woollen products from their flock on their farm near Hythe,

which looks out towards Dungeness.

Paul, this is a fantastic view of Romney marshes.

-It is.

-It's like picture perfect.

So, what is special about the Romney sheep?

Well, it is a dual purpose sheep.

Lamb production and the wool that it produces.

How big is your flock? How many have you got?

Roundabout 1000 ewes.

It's lambing season now.

-It is.

-So you've got 1000 ewes...

-Yes.

-How many lambs are you expecting, then?

Probably 13-1400.

Wow!

The Marsh has been drained over the years,

and the deep soil and fertile ground make it perfect for grazing sheep.

The Romney breed has specific characteristics associated

with the area's geography and climate.

They have black hooves, resistant to foot rot.

The ewes have excellent mothering abilities,

and their fleece is able to withstand harsh weather conditions.

Paul's Danish-born wife Kristina is taking me to meet another breed of

sheep they rear here.

As well as the Romneys, Paul and Kristina also have 60 Merino sheep,

whose excellent quality fleece is also used in their woollen goods.

The breed originates from Spain, and at the end of the 18th century,

was introduced to Australia.

And this is Snowy.

She's only a week old.

You're welcome to do the feeding.

Oh, my God, it's the cutest thing ever!

-I know.

-So, she's a Merino lamb?

She is. Yes.

-So not a Romney.

-No.

-The Romneys look after their own, right?

-They do, yes.

-And the Merinos are not so good at being mums?

I don't know, it is just in their nature.

They're not quite as maternal...

-You are a hungry lamb!

-..as what the Romneys are.

They are world-renowned for having the finest wool out of all the breeds in the world.

So if you think of your own human hair being about the 100

microns, most British breeds sit in the early 40s microns,

so the Romneys sit around early 30s,

so they are considered one of the finer breeds,

but these little fellows here they would actually be right down to

18 microns, so that is more than five times finer than human hair.

-Wow!

-It's wonderful.

The warmer climes of the south have led Merino sheep

to develop their extra fine wool.

Whereas most of our British sheep in the north have

coarser fleeces to cope with harsher environments.

But the Romneys' home on the south coast mean they too have developed

beautifully soft fine wool.

Kristina and Paul use their flocks' annual fleece haul to produce

a variety of products, including cushions,

and throws and some using lanolin extracted from the wool.

This is Romney?

This is a Romney fleece,

so the Romneys have got this really nice long staple.

Which is the length of the fleece.

-OK.

-And this is ideal for the conditions that they are actually in.

This is what gets sent off to the mills?

Yes. So we produce between five and six tonnes of wool a year.

And we will take those raw fleeces to traditional weavers

all around the UK, and so this would be how it comes back,

actually on big rolls,

and this is our cutting table which has specifically been made,

and then we will put them on here

and we will actually cut each blanket,

because they are purled, and you need to just divide that.

So I will show you and then you can have a little go.

So you just cut through...

if you want to have a go.

A little...

..blanket making.

You made it look much easier.

You are doing very well!

SHE LAUGHS

Can I get it to the other side?

I would be surprised if you can.

-I'll have to get up onto the table.

-Yeah.

So this is actually a large throw.

That is nice. It is very fine, isn't it?

Much, much softer.

And I think that's where we play an important part as

farmers, actually, in showcasing that.

And hopefully just getting people to fall in love with wool again.

It's wonderful that it takes a Danish woman to come and teach us that.

So, thank you.

Thank you.

We pulled out all the stops with that Mystery House,

but I'm not sure whether it's quite enough to win Christina and Anthony over. Just that garden.

Let's find out.

Righty-ho, we got to the end of the week.

Where is your heart at the moment?

My heart is definitely with the last house that we saw, the Mystery House.

I didn't only like the house but also really liked the location.

The last place was, was fantastic.

I think...

The challenge that I am not sure we can get our head around

is the size of the garden.

I think not only is it not the acres that I was after,

but also I think it's probably a little on the small side

-for what you had in mind as well.

-Yeah, even for me.

-Even for you.

-Because the garden is quite important to us.

I mean, we do like spending time outside.

We love having barbecues.

We would like Amelia to be outside as much as possible.

-Yeah.

-So none of our houses really cut the mustard.

That's painful. But...

What did we learn from the week?

Because I'm sure some things came into focus.

-Yes.

-I think the commuting thing

-has come into even more perspective for me.

-Yeah.

It is again something that we, or I would be doing for quite a foreseeable future.

I would probably have to relax my land and go more for perhaps a larger

garden than the acres that I was previously thinking about.

So, what's the next step?

Probably go back and then look at some of the areas.

I mean, you showed us a place here in sort of the Surrey-Sussex border

that it's not an area that we've considered before.

Hadn't looked at, yeah.

It's a lovely area with good commuting links.

So that opens up a new sort of corridor that we need to take a look at.

Well, I really do hope you find somewhere,

because it is a tough wish list, but, you know,

there are properties out there, I'm sure.

And I hope that our week together has sort of in some way kind of speeded the process.

-It definitely has, yeah.

-All the best.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much.

-It's been really, really nice.

-Likewise.

It seems like the days are long gone when £1 million - £1 million -

couldn't buy you the pick of the crop here in the Garden of England.

But it seems that Kent has not come up trumps for Anthony and Christina,

and their £1 million isn't quite enough to get them that beautiful house

with the four bedrooms, the good commute and that all-important land.

But it doesn't mean that it's not out there,

just that they have to be a little more patient.

And it doesn't mean that you should give up on our house-hunting

shenanigans, but tune in next time for more Escape To The Country.

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