The Old School House, Cleobury Mortimer

We come across some unique properties at Nock Deighton and this old school house in Cleobury Mortimer has some truly one-off features - including carvings made by pupils in the 1900s. 

The house in Cleobury Mortimer dates back to the 1850s and was formerly part of the Lacon Childe School - and former pupils have made their mark.

One of the upstairs bedrooms is what used to be the school’s French classroom - the window sill contains a carving of “gbb and few 1917” - and other etchings can be found around the house too.

But Katy Key, who is marketing the house in Childe Road for Nock Deighton, is quick to point out the “graffiti” is not intrusive and adds character to the home.

And that’s backed up by current owner Gary Colgan, who lives in the two-bedroom property with his wife and family.

“It’s a lovely house which is just made all the more interesting by its history,” he said. “You have to know where to look to find them, but there are some carvings in some of the windows which were left by pupils over the past hundred years.

“It gives you a great feeling of history and makes you realise how many lives have been influenced in the building when it was a school house - it certainly make the property more interesting than most.”

The downstairs of the house is believed to have been part of the school gym and one of the original hooks which may have held the climbing ropes is still attached to the ceiling.

Most of the house also still has the original gymnasium flooring - a magnificent parquet wooden floor which has really stood the test of time.

Katy said the original features were encouraging a lot of interest in the property.

“They certainly don’t make floors like that anymore,” she said. “And the quirky little touches like the carvings made by children while they attended lessons in the classrooms really do make this house unique.

“It has the best of the both worlds - it has an air of tradition and history, but is a lovely family home at the same time.

“We have had a lot of interest and people are certainly intrigued to see it.”

The house stopped being part of Lacon Childe School in the 1970s and was converted to a house in 1998 along with other properties in the terrace.

Katy said the history of the house made it a talking point with potential buyers.

“A lot of people remember going to school there and are interested to see it as a house,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity to own a piece of Cleobury Mortimer history which has been converted into a gorgeous family home.”

The house is on the market with Nock Deighton with an asking price of £214,995.