A quirky Gothic-style folly in Sidmouth – the town’s only residential Grade I listed building – is on the market with a guide price of £1,100,000.

The Old Chancel in Coburg Terrace is the former home of Victorian historian Peter Orlando Hutchinson, and the building itself is a part of Sidmouth’s history.

(Image: Bradleys Estate Agents) The ‘old chancel’ which gives the house its name was originally part of Sidmouth’s small 15th-century parish church. During the mid-1800s there was a need for a larger church, because of the town’s growing population, but instead of being sensitively extended, the building ended up being almost completely demolished.

Peter Orlando Hutchinson, who was then living at 4, Coburg  Terrace, had resisted the modernisation of the church and was saddened by its destruction. He bought its medieval chancel and re-erected it in his own garden, later extending it into a house which he built in Gothic revival style with stained glass windows, heraldic decorations and Jacobean carvings.

(Image: Bradleys Estate Agents)

(Image: Bradleys Estate Agents) He lived there until his death in 1897.

The Old Chancel has been used as a family home for the last 25 years, but is up for acquisition by a new owner. It is being marketed by Bradleys Estate Agents, who describe it as ‘A detached residence of immense character. Superbly located on the level in a quiet situation in the heart of the town centre overlooking the bowling greens and tennis courts.’

The house has three reception rooms, three bedrooms and two bathrooms, gas-fired central heating, a garden and parking.

For more information visit Bradleys’ website.