Denton Court mansion near Canterbury on market with £2.75 million price tag

It towers majestically in the Kent countryside, boasting spires, 17 bedrooms and regal gardens.

But this Grade II-listed mansion has never been seen by many of the thousands of people who pass by each day.

Set behind trees down a long driveway, the historic Denton Court, near Canterbury, is now in need of a new owner and some serious tender loving care.

The passage of time and neglect have taken their toll on the property.

Yet behind the faded facade, which dates back to the 16th century, is an architectural gem with many of its glorious features intact.

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And despite needing a full restoration, it has just gone on the market with a commanding price tag of £2.75m, because agents believe it has the potential to once again be a grand country home or even a boutique hotel.

Denton Court is nestled in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with two cottages and 26 acres of picturesque grounds.

The principal house also has a wealth of historical architectural features that restorers will drool over.

It even boasts a ballroom and billiards room, while retaining many glorious, albeit jaded, period features.

“This substantial country house provides a magnificent restoration project with the opportunity to create a grand country home or a boutique hotel,” says agent Julien Hunt from Savills, which is jointly marketing the property with Finns.

Such a project was undertaken elsewhere on the outskirts of Canterbury, when investors ploughed £8 million into converting the former Bridge Country Club into the award-winning Pig at Bridge Place.

Those taking a punt on Denton Court will be buying a property with just as much potential, and quite the history.

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Once known as The Manor of Denton, it is situated on the site of a much earlier substantial building, possibly dating prior to 1086 when The Domesday Book, Liber de Wintonia, was completed.

Over the following centuries the property changed hands a number of times, and in 1574 a new mansion was built by William Boys.

Between 1792 and 1810, Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges, who was educated at Maidstone Grammar and The Kings School, Canterbury, and later became an English bibliographer, genealogist and member of parliament for Maidstone, acquired the house and set about restoration and landscaping the surrounding gardens and grounds.

In 1860, having been partially destroyed by fire, the estate was sold to William Willats, who then rebuilt the mansion, retaining as much as possible, including the two western gables, hence the impressive main frontage now facing south instead of west.

Passed down through several generations of Willats, Denton Court has more recently been in the same ownership for more than 50 years.

With its ornate southerly-facing façade and faded elegance, the principal house presents as a “substantial restoration project”, the agents say.

It could offer a potential buyer the rare opportunity to acquire a building of historic stature and substance to revive it to its former glory – while introducing a touch of the 21st century convenience.

Many original features remain to be worked with.The agents add: “Of particular note are the spacious rooms with southerly vistas being enjoyed by most of the formal reception rooms over the gardens towards the parkland. These lovely light-filled rooms include a former ballroom, drawing and dining rooms and a billiards room.”

Visitors enter via a grand central reception hall featuring panelled wainscoting, with a large open fireplace to one end and a sweeping staircase leading up to the first floor, where the open gallery runs along three sides.

The bell corridor, so named as the original working bells are still in place, links the front hall to a further collection of rooms.

An enclosed covered walkway houses the old water pump and has a number of rooms located off it.

The cellar has four store rooms, one with wine bins and another which would have been used to house coal for the original coal-fired boiler system.