A FORMER preparatory school and historic country house set in parkland near Worcester is up for sale.

No guide price has been made public for the prestigious Abberley Hall Estate, which is centred around a Grade II listed former country house in Abberley, near Worcester.

Estate agents Savills said prices are available on application.

It follows the closure of Abberley Hall School at the end of the 2022/2023 academic year despite £1m being raised to save it.

Malvern College said Abberley Hall had suffered “significant losses” in recent years and stopped funding the prep school at the end of the academic year.

Set within approximately 93 acres, the estate has a rich history with the origins of the land traceable back to the medieval period.

Designed by local architect Samuel Whitfield Daukes, the current Abberley Hall – which was constructed circa 1844 as a Victorian country house – replaced an older 18th-century country manor house in disrepair.

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The estate first became a school in 1916 when it was purchased by Arthur M Kilby, who was seeking to relocate Lindisfarne School from Blackheath, Kent, to a country setting.

The need to relocate was heightened by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.

In addition to the yellow sandstone principal hall, the estate comprises 16 residential properties, a Grade II listed Clock Tower standing at 161 feet tall, a stable block and coach house, a theatre and a range of education buildings.

The gardens, parkland and woodland offer an array of sports and outdoor education facilities, including extensive, flat grass pitches; a full sized-astroturf; two tennis/netball courts; a 25m heated swimming pool with changing facilities and an indoor sports hall with ricochet court, gymnasium and changing facilities.

Further facilities include an indoor shooting range; riding stables and ménage; outdoor climbing wall; fishing lake; mountain bike trails and a forest school area.

Olivia Haslam, associate director at Savills and co-lead of the firm’s education sector group, who is handling the sale, said: “This is an incredibly rare opportunity to purchase a distinctive estate which forms an important part of the local history. The Clock Tower, for example, was used as an observation post during the Second World War to report enemy aircraft targeting Birmingham and is described as one of the most distinctive landmarks in the region.

“The availability of the Abberley Hall Estate, which lies within a desirable rural setting with fantastic views over the Worcestershire countryside, presents an exciting and unique opportunity for an occupier, developer or investor to shape its future and continue its legacy.

"With easy access to the nearby cities of Worcester, Hereford and Birmingham and an eclectic mix of education and residential buildings across the estate, we are expecting high interest from potential buyers.”