Blaisdon Hall in Gloucester is on the market

This Grade II*-listed Blaisdon Hall is a masterpiece of Victorian architecture and was built during the 1870s for Edwin Crawshay, son of the leading Forest of Dean ironmaster Henry Crawshay, and remains a visual symbol of the influence this family once had in the area.

By the early 1890s, Blaisdon Hall estate had passed into the hands of Peter Stubbs, a mining equipment manufacturer from Warrington, to whom the previous owner is said to have become deeply in debt, and remained in his family until the 1930s.

Blaisdon Hall

Subsequently it was used as an agricultural school, before passing through the hands of a variety of owners, each of whom respected the beauty and quality of both the exterior, with its turreted tower and Dutch-style gables, and sumptuous interior. As a result the property retains many period features, including stained glass windows, ornate plaster ceilings made by George Jackson & Sons of London and specialist carved work by the architectural sculptors Farmer & Brindley.

Gloucester-based architect Frederick Sandham Waller came up with the original Jacobean-style design for the three-storey stone mansion, which is built on a raised site to make the most of panoramic views across the Severn Valley, and his son Frederick William Waller added its orangery and extended the north side.

Blaisdon Hall

Blaisdon Hall sits within 86.7 acres (35 hectares) of its own land, which includes mature gardens and grounds with ornamental ponds, a lake, parkland, paddocks and mixed woodland. Among its trees are several Blaisdon plums, a fruit bred and once widely grown in the area. The area around the property is a haven for wildlife, including wild orchids, great crested newts, bats and around 40 different species of wild birds.

A sweeping driveway extending from a gatehouse leads to the 11-bedroom mansion, the impressive façade of which has truly stood the test of time.

The main entrance features a covered entrance known as a porte cochère – with three arches that would have once allowed carriages, and subsequently motorcars, to pass through.

Blaisdon Hall

This structure leads to a grand archway and a vestibule, which has retained its original mosaic floor, and towards a pair of double doors incorporating stained glass windows that open into ‘The Great Hall’. This room has a splendid stone chimney piece, complete with its original grate and beautiful Minton tiles, timber beams and ornate plaster ceiling.

A grand oak staircase with fine stone and stained glass arched windows light well lies off the Great Hall and feeds into a corridor running across the south side of the house, off which lies the orangery, as well as the drawing room and music room, both of which have ornate plasterwork, high ceilings, parquet flooring and large bay windows looking out in a southerly direction over the stone balustrade towards the lake and parkland and the Severn Estuary.

Along the west side of the house are the sitting room, playroom, two studies and dining room, with its dominant stone arches and original domed ceiling.

Blaisdon Hall

The main kitchen has a larder, freezer room and walk-in cold room.

Over on the east side of the property is a morning room, which shares many of the features found in the drawing and music rooms. Further along this corridor is the leisure wing sporting an impressive library with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, a billiards room and bar, gymnasium with changing room and showers and a steam room and sauna.

On the first floor there’s an impressive ballroom measuring more than 85ft with a series of ornate stone arches linked by an original oak and ironwork balustrade overlooking the main staircase. This leads off to both the first tower room and down into the entertainment lounge.

Also located on the first floor are three principal bedroom suites, all with their own bathrooms and dressing rooms, along with a fourth bedroom with a separate bathroom. There’s a two-bedroom integrated staff flat above the billiard room.

The second floor has a large entertaining room, from which the tower rooms lead up to the top of the turret with its breathtaking 360-degree rural views.

Other living accommodation includes a coach house, gate house, a garage block with a guest/staff cottage and various storage buildings.

Blaisdon Hall

The current owners of Blaisdon Hall purchased the estate in 2009 and have maintained it as a private residence with lots of care, while making important improvements and restoring various features. The slate roof has been retiled, zoned central heating installed, plumbing modernised and electrics rewired.

The village of Blaisdon sits on the edge of the Forest of Dean. It’s quiet and rural, with a pub and a village hall. The nearest shops can be found in Huntley and Mitcheldean.

• Blaisdon Hall is on the market with Knight Frank, priced £7,250,000. www.knightfrank.co.uk