Westhorpe Hall, near Stowmarket, sells for £900k following closure as care home

A Grade II listed property with a royal history has sold for £900,000 after standing empty for more than two years following its closure as a care home.

Westhorpe Hall, a moated 18-bedroom country house near Stowmarket, has been sold by estate agents Savills.

Previously occupied as a care home by Cephas Care Ltd, the Grade II-listed property closed in October 2022 — meaning its residents, including those with dementia, had to relocate.

Savills struggled to find a commercial buyer due to the building’s age, size and upkeep.

As a result, applicants D and R Barker, of The Trustees of the Ella Barker Family Settlement, sought permission to change the building’s use to become a house.

Mid Suffolk District Council has now approved the change — allowing the historic estate, set on 8.4 acres with outbuildings and established grounds, to be sold as a home.

Westhorpe Hall was once home to Mary Tudor, Queen of France, and has a rich history dating back to the 16th century.

In 1514, King Henry VIII sent his sister Mary to France to marry King Louis XII, but when he died just three months later, she secretly married Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, without the king’s permission.

The marriage outraged Henry, but with the help of Thomas Wolsey, the couple were eventually forgiven.

Brandon acquired the Manor of Westhorpe in 1515, where he and Mary built a lavish estate including a chapel, moated gardens and a deer park.

Mary lived there until her death in 1533 aged 37 and she was later buried at St Mary’s Church in Bury St Edmunds.

Westhorpe Hall was demolished in 1785, but the three-arched bridge — a rare Tudor structure in East Anglia— still stands as one of the few remaining in the region.

The current building, featuring a Georgian red-brick façade and the Brandon coat of arms above the doorway, was later constructed and the hall became a family home.