Seer Green & Jordans

SEER GREEN & JORDANS Seer Green’s old rural character has been changed by the Sixties’ Manor Farm Estate estate where three- and four-bedroom semi-detached and detached houses sell for £275,000 to £450,000. In the rural setting of Long Grove, one of the finest private roads in the area, properties change hands for up to £4m. The village school is highly regarded. Penn, to the west, is a long straggling village with a green surrounded by Georgian houses and 17th-century cottages in timber or brick. Views over the surrounding beech woods are magnificent. William Penn lived here, a leading light in the Quaker Society of Friends. In the neighbouring village, Jordans, the Quaker connection continues with a barn built with timbers from the Mayflower. The village once hit the headlines because of the peculiarly English problem of cricket balls flying into gardens close to the cricket ground. This is a very cliquey area. Houses range in date from the l6th century to the 1940s, and are at a premium. A five-bedroom detached will command £885,000 here. Hopeful buyers need to be in the know to hear about a sale and estate agents count themselves lucky to get hold of a property here. The charming village centre was designed by Fred Rowntree in 1919, with gabled brick houses set well back from a central green planted with silver birch and poplar. There is the bonus of a good primary school.