This Victorian country mansion for sale has royal links and has been used in a film series - and costs less than £1,000,000. 

Castle, in Milltown, Lostwithiel, was built by the Foster banking family in the 1800s, and is on an earlier historical site. 

The site was the domestic settlement of King Mark of Cornwall, who held his seat at the nearby Castle Dor. 

In an opera written by Wagner about King Mark, his nephew Tristan and an Irish princess named Isolde used to meet secretly in the orchards of Castle. 

However, the property’s royal and political history does not end there, with Count Fabrice, chamberlain to the King of Saxony, living in Castle between 1914 and 1940. 

In the 1940s, the mansion was commandeered by the war department in the lead-up to D-Day, and in 1967, the property was host to the Queen Mother. 

In the more recent past, the house and grounds have been used for making a film series based on the novels of Rosamund Pilcher. 

The house was partially damaged due to a fire in late 2019, with some rooms now requiring renovation. 

The mansion itself is built of Cornish granite and spans 12,500 square feet, with 32 rooms and 15 acres of formal grounds. 

On the ground floor, the entrance vestibule leads to a hall with access to several of this level’s reception rooms. 

To the left of the hall is the sitting / morning room, beyond which is a dining room, with patio doors, plus a kitchenette, a ground floor bedroom and a WC. This area has previously been used as a separate apartment. 

To the right of the main hall are two further reception rooms, while at the end is the study. 

Moving further into the house, there is a gym which has been previously used as an au-pair’s room, a laundry room, a snug, and the historical Victorian kitchen, featuring a three-way range thought to be the only one of its kind in the country. 

Upstairs, there are more than a dozen bedrooms spanning the first and second floors, several of which include en-suite bathrooms, and one of which has also been used as a games room. 

Outside, there is an old carriage driveway beside a stream, with an original water system from a nearby spring supplying water to the mansion. 

Behind the home are walled gardens, an original Victorian greenhouse, stables and a garage / workshop. 

Wildlife and plantlife throughout the 15 acres of grounds are abundant, with the forestry commission having reported 17 rare species of trees in the grounds in the 1950s. 

There have been sightings of red squirrels, wild deer, pheasants and a variety of birdlife on the grounds. 

The property is being sold by SDL Auctions on February 29 2024 at 10am for a guide price of £800,000 to £950,000, with the price reflecting the fire damage found in some rooms. 

SDL Auctions commented: “A rare opportunity to purchase Castle, set in the most exquisite site in the heart of South Cornwall. 

“The Grade II listed early Victorian country mansion has an illustrious history.

“This special country home is set in some 15 acres of formal gardens, walled gardens and grazing land.”