Grand Norfolk house still looking for a new owner

Victoria LeggettA once-grand manor house in north Norfolk, now crumbling and covered with grime, is still looking for a new owner.Victoria Leggett

A once-grand house in north Norfolk that is now crumbling and covered with grime still needs a definite new owner despite months of searching to find one.

Bessingham Manor, near Cromer, went up for auction last summer but failed to attract a high enough bid.

Since then, agents have been trying to find a buyer. And, although hopeful a sale could be close, they are not resting on their laurels.

John Parsons, of William H Brown, said: "At the moment I've got two surveys being carried out on it for borrowing purposes, and I've got a developer that's put down an offer.

"But at the moment it's still very much available: there's nothing concrete on this."

He said two of the potential buyers were private individuals hoping to turn the Victorian manor back into a family home, while the developer was thought to have plans for a commercial project.

Bessingham Manor was built in 1870 for Daniel Spurrell, whose farm-ing family has links in the north of the county stretching back 500 years.

The three-storey house once had a vaulted cellar, eight main bedrooms, another four for servants in the roof and a range of outbuildings but is now a forlorn mixture of collapsed ceilings and crumbling floors.

Mr Parsons estimated it needed �1m of work done.

For more information contact William H Brown's Bank Plain office in Norwich on 01603 598975.

For details of more property for sales, see Friday's EDP or visit www.homes24.co.uk.