General Chat

Rumours that Hollywood star Johnny Depp is planning to set up home in Norfolk have resurfaced, as it emerged that the country estate he has been linked with in the past is about to go back on the market.

Last summer it was reported that the film actor could have his eye on Claxton Manor, a £5.5m rural estate nine miles south-east of Norwich.

Although an unnamed buyer was found for the whole estate, which includes a grade II listed house, five cottages and 826 acres of land, the deal did not go through.

Christopher Miles, a director of Savills in Norwich, which has been handling the sale, said: “There was a buyer and I can't comment on who it was. For certain family reasons the vendor decided to withdraw it. Family circumstances have changed since then and we are launching just the house on the market at the beginning of July.”

Mr Miles said the new, smaller package that includes the main house and 56 acres, has a price tag of £1.5m. The remaining expanse of land and cottages will be retained by the owner.

Mr Miles said that although the brochure has not yet been produced, word has got out and sparked interest.

“We've had several people who have come forward on this who are interested in the house on its own,” he said.

Asked whether Johnny Depp had been in contact about property, Mr Miles said: “He certainly hasn't rung up this time”, adding that he could not confirm or deny whether the celebrity had been among those interested in the estate last year.

The film star's name has once again cropped up in the community as a potential new neighbour, having been linked with Norfolk and Suffolk more than once in recent years. Two years ago he was apparently turned away from the Fox and Goose pub in Fressingfield while house-hunting with partner Vanessa Paradis.

And this week the Sweeney Todd actor responded to a letter from the Spotlight musical theatre group with a good luck card ahead of their staging of the production in Beccles.

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