Property: Three To View - Houses with a past

IN A previous life, this six-bedroom house in three quarters of an acre would have housed a parson and his large, quite possibly impecunious family. Now the Old Parsonage in Fleckney, near Market Harborough, in Leicestershire, is a private home. It has a conservatory reached via French doors from the music room, lounge and dining rooms with period fireplaces and a family-sized kitchen with fitted oven and hob. A solid-fuel Aga may be bought separately. The ground floor has a boot room, study, workshop and studio with a gallery. The grounds boast a herb garden, greenhouse and paddock. pounds 235,000, details from Frank Innes (01858 410311).

A TABLET on the front of The Old School commemorates its opening as the village school in South Warnborough, Hampshire. The house was originally built for the poor children of the parish, aged seven and above, and finally closed in 1952. With its Grade II listing, it is now a three-bedroom home (two of the bedrooms are on the ground floor) with a 19ft drawing room, a study, a dining room and a large kitchen. There is a mezzanine gallery and a master bedroom with en suite facilities on the first floor. The gardens are old and traditional and include a double garage. pounds 275,000 through Hill & Morrison, telephone 01256 702892 for details.

IT HAS been a long time since the forge rang to the sound of the hammer and anvil, as it is now used for storage and garaging, with a vehicle inspection pit. The outbuilding comes with the house, known as The Forge, which is a three-bedroom dwelling with more than an acre and a half of gardens. Built in the early 19th century and Grade II listed, it is the first time that the building has been sold on the open market apart from the Highclere Estate, which is five miles from Newbury, in Berkshire. It has a sitting room with open fireplace, dining room with a wood-burning stove in the hearth and a large, spacious kitchen with a beamed ceiling. The guide price is pounds 290,000. Details are available from Strutt & Parker (01635 521707).

Rosalind Russell