Lower Eashing, Godalming, GU7

A rare Grade II listed Tudor hall house on the edge of Godalming, set within about five acres of gardens, river frontage and paddock, its timber framed rooms carrying six centuries of history.

Style Cottage began life as two hall houses, joined together some five centuries ago to form the L shaped home you see today. The dining hall sits in semi-open arrangement with the library beyond it, one of three grand working inglenook fireplaces at its centre. Exposed timber framing runs through the walls and ceilings throughout the ground floor. The kitchen has been fitted with oak fronted units and integrated appliances, practical rather than showy, with a utility area close by for the everyday business of family life. the kitchen opens through to a family area built for slow mornings and long evenings around the table. Elsewhere, the sitting room leads through to a study and cloakroom, itself linked by a spiral stair to the bathroom and bedroom with its own Victorian fireplace.

The bedrooms are reached by a glass sided stair from an inner hall which also links to the cool cellar reached by its own stair. The house has five working fireplaces including a working bread oven and a small cast iron kitchen range, both still in place, quiet evidence of a house that has always been properly lived in.

Upstairs, the story continues. The original solar, once the private upper chamber of the medieval hall house, now serves as a spacious landing and study area, somewhere to retreat to away from the busier rooms below. Five bedrooms are arranged across the first floor, each with its own en suite bath or shower room, giving every member of the household real privacy. A light oak and glass staircase, introduced as part of the restoration, brings a contemporary clarity to the circulation between floors, a calm counterpoint to the ancient timber around it.

Outside, Style Cottage is approached from the lane through a five bar gate onto a gravelled forecourt, with a detached three bay garage offering electric doors and a hydraulic car lift for a fourth car, ideal for anyone with a growing collection, or simply plenty to store. The gardens wrap around the house, so there is always somewhere in the sun, whatever the hour. Lawns run down towards the river and a field with its own pond, and the property comes with around 160 metres of private river bank and fishing rights, more than most gardens this close to town could ever offer. The adjoining field is included on a long peppercorn lease running for nearly a thousand years, effectively part of the grounds in every sense that matters. To the rear, a secluded south facing patio catches the sun for much of the day, with steps leading up to a further stretch of lawn and on to a detached barn, a workshop below and a studio above, ready for whatever the next family needs it to be, whether a home office, a place to make things, or simply more room to spread into. Beyond the barn, a public footpath crosses a short stretch of the land before reaching the paddock. In all, the grounds extend to about 5.2 acres.

Homes with this combination of history, land and privacy rarely come to the market, and rarer still ones that have been restored with such care, rather than simply modernised. Style Cottage suits a family who wants space without giving up character, room for children to disappear into the garden for a whole afternoon, room for guests to stay, and a setting that makes the daily business of life feel special. It is a house for people who understand that a good fireplace, an old beam and a stretch of river bank are worth rather more than they would cost to build today.

Location Guide

Lower Eashing is one of those pockets of Surrey that manages to feel entirely rural while sitting only a mile or so from a proper market town in either direction. The hamlet gathers around a crossing point on the River Wey that people have been using since well before Godalming existed as the town we know today, and that sense of quiet continuity runs through everything here, from the ancient stone bridges at its centre to the working farms and old mill buildings that still line the lane. Godalming lies just to the north, Milford just to the south, and Lower Eashing sits happily between the two, close enough to both for everyday convenience, far enough from either to feel like its own small world.

Transport Links

Both Godalming and Milford stations are around a mile from Lower Eashing, and both sit on the Portsmouth Direct Line, run by South Western Railway. Godalming is the quicker option into town, with the fastest services reaching London Waterloo in around forty minutes, and trains running roughly twice an hour throughout the day. Milford station offers the same line a short distance further south, useful when Godalming's car park is full or when the quieter platform suits better. For anyone driving, the A3 is close by and gives fast access to Guildford, the M25 and beyond.

Education

Charterhouse, the renowned day and boarding school for pupils aged thirteen to eighteen, sits in Godalming itself and is one of the reasons families move to this part of Surrey in the first place. Aldro, in nearby Shackleford, is a well established prep and boarding school whose pupils go on to Charterhouse and further afield to schools including Winchester and Eton. Prior's Field, also in Godalming, is a respected independent school for girls offering day and boarding places through to sixth form, while St Hilary's provides a mixed preparatory education in the heart of the town. On the state side, Broadwater School in Farncombe serves secondary age pupils well, Milford School covers the primary years for families in the village itself, and Godalming College offers sixth form places for those staying local through to eighteen.

Local Attractions

The Eashing Bridges are the obvious place to start, a pair of medieval packhorse bridges spanning two branches of the Wey, thought to have been built by the monks of Waverley Abbey in the thirteenth century and cared for by the National Trust since 1901. They sit right along the lane, a genuine piece of history rather than a heritage attraction dressed up for visitors. Close by, Eashing Mill, once a working paper mill dating back to 1658 and now converted to offices, is a reminder of how industrious this quiet stretch of river once was. Further afield, Winkworth Arboretum, the National Trust's only arboretum, spreads across a wooded hillside near Hascombe with more than a thousand species of tree and shrub, glorious with bluebells and magnolia in spring and turning properly gold through autumn. Witley and Milford Commons offer open heathland for a longer walk or a dog let off the lead, and Secretts of Milford, a working farm with its own garden centre, farm shop and pick your own fields, has become something of an institution for local families.

Entertainment and Leisure

The Stag on the River sits right at the end of the lane from Style Cottage, by the bridges, and is exactly the kind of pub this part of Surrey does well, unfussy, well run and popular for a pint by the water or a proper Sunday lunch. Into Godalming, the High Street offers a good spread of independent shops and cafes alongside the Kings Arms and Royal, a coaching inn dating from the fourteenth century that now combines a restaurant, bar and boutique rooms at the heart of town, and The Refectory, a well regarded spot for a more considered meal by the river. Golfers have West Surrey Golf Club close at hand, and for anyone who simply wants a change of scene, Guildford's fuller range of shops, restaurants and theatre is a short drive or train ride away.