Manor Farm Barn, Thorndon

Spectacular within and without, the striking Manor Farm Barn – featured in a “Hairy Bikers” TV Christmas special in 2009 – has a spacious living area with high beams and rafters and an inglenook fireplace. French windows open on to a large lawned garden equipped with a hot tub and trampoline. The bedrooms are individually designed and furnished in an uncluttered country style with carved wood or ironwork bedsteads.

The barn is in peaceful countryside celebrated for the Thornham Walks, 12 miles of waymarked footpaths within the Thornham Estate, winding through ancient parkland, woodland, farmland and water meadows.

Nearby are the bustling market towns of Eye, Diss and Harleston, all with fascinating historic buildings, speciality shops and a range of fine restaurants. The medieval city of Norwich, its skyline dominated by the magnificent cathedral and castle and offering great shopping, entertainment and dining, is just over twenty miles away.

For days out, the celebrated Norfolk Broads with hundreds of miles of navigable waterways and unspoilt scenery, and the splendid coastal towns and villages of the sandy Suffolk Coast are both under an hour’s drive.