House for sale in Northants village complete with its own graveyard

One of a county's most unusual houses has gone on the market - a converted church, complete with its own graveyard.

The building in the small village of Clay Coton, near Daventry, Northamptonshire, dates back to the 14th Century.

The church fell into disuse in the 1950s and was converted into a house in the early 2000s.

There is still a public right of way through the graveyard.

The church was due to be demolished after regular worship stopped, however, in 1978 a royal command halted the wrecking ball.

A contemporary document stated: "The Queen's most excellent majesty in council at Buckingham Palace revoked the demolition order."

The parish trustees looked after the site for the next 25 years.

Jonathan Lloyd-Ham, from the estate agents Fine and Country, said that after the church was converted into a house, "one single chap lived here, collected books and loved the fact that it was just a very quiet location to live in, very peaceful, completely surrounded by open fields and greenery".

Whoever takes on the place will have to allow people access to the graveyard, but it is not expected to be busy.

Mr Lloyd-Ham said: "I've not seen anybody here and the owner very rarely saw anybody at the property."

The tombstones in the graveyard were not the only signs that people worshipped there centuries ago.

At the entrance of the house all visitors are greeted by a tombstone, which reads: "Here lieth the body of Mr Joseph Proctor."

There are vaults and crypts beneath the floor of the house, although these are no longer in use.

Mr Lloyd-Ham said it would be difficult to forget the heritage of the home, which is on the market for £1.2m, owing to its arched windows of mullioned stone and leaded glass.

The estate agent added that he did not know what to make of the building when he first saw it.

He said: "I haven't seen anything else like it at all - I've been selling houses for 40 years and this is the first church conversion of this quality and this scale that I've done."

He added that the agents "haven't been inundated with inquiries".

"We have had a steady flow since it went on, in fact someone in the village is quite keen on it, because they've known it all their life," he said.

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