COTHAY Manor, the former home of ex-Taunton MP Edward du Cann, is up for sale – with a price tag of £5 million.

The house at Greenham, near Wellington, is regarded as one of the finest examples of a small medieval manor building. The asking price also includes its 40 acres of grounds and gardens.

Cothay Manor was bought by the Robb family in 1993 from Edward du Cann, who had been declared bankrupt.

The Robbs – Alastair, Mary-Anne and their children – moved to Cothay from Chisenbury Priory in Wiltshire to release funds for the family business, Marlborough Tiles which had been affected by the 1990s recession and is now run by James Robb.

Alastair and Mary-Anne gutted and rebuilt much of the house, and brought their extensive collection of antique furniture, much of it inherited, as well as textiles, ceramics and religious statuary to furnish its many rooms but found the cost of upkeep formidable. Mary-Anne set about returning the gardens to their original form, work which is still ongoing.

In 2008 Cothay Manor was featured in the Channel 4 documentary series ‘Country House Rescue’ when presenter Ruth Watson attempted to suggest to the Robbs ways to increase Cothay’s revenue by adding features and amenities to attract visitors.

Alistair died in 2016 and since then the house and gardens have been managed by Mary-Anne, now 80, and her daughter Charlie Campbell. The manor has become a wedding venue and the setting for films, the most recent being China Girl in 2018 and The Voyage of Dr Dolittle.

The first of this year’s scheduled events – a garden plant, craft and food fair last Saturday – was cancelled as was the re-opening of the house on Wednesday as a result of Covid-19 crisis.