Crime & Safety
Waterside £5.5m monastery with River Thames views for sale
The Cloisters in High Street, Hurley, right on the border between Oxfordshire and Berkshire, is on the market with the whopping figure as a guide price.
Refurbished and modernised by the current owners, the six-bedroom property boasts 7,906 sq ft of accommodation arranged largely over two floors.
At the heart of the home is a former monks refectory, approaching almost 1,000 years old and now used as an impressive entertaining space.
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The ground floor also includes a sitting room, drawing room, study and two kitchen rooms, with one of these opening into a dining room.
The first floor is home to the principal bedroom suite and three other bedrooms, with a fifth bedroom at attic level, while there are also three refurbished bathrooms.
Other features of note include an outdoor swimming pool set in an Italian-inspired entertaining area, as well as a cedar wood-clad pool house with sauna, steam room, home gym, and fully equipped kitchen area. There is also a hot tub and tennis court.
The formal gardens are bordered by a Tudor wall and include the original medieval carp pond and an avenue of Irish yew trees, with paths leading towards a timber bridge over a moat.
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A riverside garden is located behind a discreet archway, complete with an informal mooring and a summerhouse mentioned in architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner’s Buildings of England series.
A separate one-bedroom property known as ‘Monks Cottage’ flanks the main house and offers additional accommodation.
Property agent Victoria Knight, head of office at Savills in Henley-on-Thames, said: “Set in delightful and secluded park-like grounds, The Cloisters is one of the principal houses in this much sought-after village.
“With easy access to both London and Heathrow, the property is steeped in local history and has been sympathetically restored by the current owners to create a magical home that offers an eclectic mix of ancient and modern.”
READ MORE: Daughter of Rolling Stones rock legend sells £3.5m Cotswolds mansion
The Cloisters has a rich history dating from its foundation in 1086 as a Benedictine Priory and was the centre of village life for over 450 years until it was closed by Henry VIII.
It passed into the ownership of the Lovelace family in the 16th century, who became Lords of the Manor, with the original monastic estate divided into separate properties in 1948.
In 1931, Queen Mary is believed to have visited the gardens and watched a game of tennis sitting on a stone seat which is now on the large lawn, while during the Second World War, Sorrel Strausler, designer of the amphibious tank used in the D-Day landings, reportedly used the property’s moat to test his prototype.
The Cloisters is on sale through Savills in Henley-on-Thames. Visit savills.com or call 01491 843000 for more information.
Thames Valley Police has revealed that it carried out a drugs warrant today (Friday, April 17) on Leach Road in Bicester.
This is only a road away from The Bicester School which educates over 1,000 pupils from 11 to 18.
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The police added that investigations in the case are ongoing and encouraged anyone with any information to get in touch with them as soon as possible.
A spokesperson for the Cherwell unit said: “Earlier today, the Bicester and Kidlington Neighbourhood Policing Team carried out a drugs warrant at an address in Leach Road, supported by colleagues from West Oxfordshire and Banbury Neighbourhood Policing Teams.
“Investigations remain ongoing. We continue to encourage our community to report any information or concerns about drug activity.
“Your reports help us target our activity, protect vulnerable people, and reduce drug offences across the area.
READ MORE: Named ‘delivery rider’ pleads guilty after cocaine arrest in Oxfordshire town
“You can either do this online or by telephoning 101. If you don’t wish to speak to police directly, you can also report to Crimestoppers, anonymously and free of charge by calling 0800 555 111.”
This drugs raid follows several recent drugs-related arrests in another Oxfordshire town Wantage.
Earlier this week a man pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of class A, namely cocaine, having been arrested in the town.
Nigel Bailey, who is close to becoming the new owner of the former Horse and Radish in Burford Road, Minster Lovell, has said he wants to have the watering hole opened in the summer during the upcoming Football World Cup.
Mr Bailey and his wife, who live in Brize Norton, had an offer accepted for the pub earlier this year and hope to finalise the deal with Stonegate soon.
READ MORE: Cotswolds rival to Jeremy Clarkson pub could reopen soon
The Minster Lovell tavern was on the market for £850,000 last summer although that fell to £650,000 late in 2025.
Mr Bailey confirmed that they would give the pub a new name and said it would be based on English literature.
He said: “We’re eyeing English writers as a source for the name, people who have taken inspiration from the Cotswolds. That’s the concept.”
He added that the food would be traditional British but with a twist and that he is hopeful it will be open for the busy summer season.
“A good thing is that we have got the World Cup coming up,” he said, adding: “I mean it’s going to be all hands-on deck when we get the keys.
“I’ve got contractors lined up and we’re already looking for stuff but not really going into high gear until we have got the keys.”
Boasting 2.092 acres of Cotswolds views, the pub is less than two miles away from Jeremey Clarkson’s boozer The Farmer’s Dog in Asthall.
However Mr Bailey said he expects the upgraded Horse and Radish to complement the former Top Gear man’s boozer as well as The White Hart in Burford.
He said that it will be a pub stitched into the community and that they hope to hold plenty of community events there.
It dates back more than 100 years to 1871 when it was first mentioned in The Census with the name New Inn.
Over the years the New Inn had several transfers of ownership with tenancies lasting on average two years.
READ MORE: Historic Oxfordshire high street hotel up for £2.5m sale
It continued to be called the New Inn into the 21st century and then it reopened in May 2006 after a major refurbishment which included an extra single storey being built to the pub at the rear and side.
In 2013 the Inn was renamed The Dovecote before being rebranded again as The Horse and Radish.
The pub comes with planning permission for eight shepherd’s huts in the adjacent wild paddock, granted in 2022 and – according to the Land Registry – it was last sold for £465,000 in September 2017.
Inside the pub is a three-section trading area with multiple entrances, a raised bar section with 22 seats leading to three sets of customer toilets, a central bar-servery section split either side of a feature fireplace and a larger dining area suitable for 46 people at the back.
Leonardo Silvestre, aged 23 and of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of class A, namely cocaine, at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court on Monday (April 13).
He was remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on May 12.
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This follows his arrest on April 10 at Denchworth Road, Wantage.
Thames Valley Police said they stopped a male “posing as a food‑delivery rider after suspicious behaviour caught our attention”.
The force added: “That instinct paid off — during a search we recovered 16 wraps of cocaine and over £1,000 in cash. All seized.”
The police team said that this was part of their ongoing crackdown on drugs in Wantage.
They said: “Our recent survey told us loud and clear that our community wants us to focus on drug-related activity—and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
Over the next few days they had several other encounters with possible drugs offenders, including arresting a man, reportedly mid drug deal, on April 11, at Naldertown in Wantage.
The force said: “As a result, a 22-year-old male from outside the area was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs.
“Drugs and cash were located on him, and his vehicle was seized.”
That man has since been released on police bail until June 26.
On April 12 they saw another man engaging in drug-related activity in Wantage with the suspect running from the police officers.
“Despite our best efforts—and assistance from the police helicopter—we were unable to locate him,” the police said.
They added: “However, we did seize his vehicle, along with cash and significant items inside.”
As of Friday, April 17 no arrests have been made in the case.
In one of their updates the Wantage and Grove neighbourhood police team warned that much of the drugs activity in the area relates to ‘county lines’.
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The police explained: “It’s when organised drug networks from big cities push into smaller towns, exploiting vulnerable people to move drugs and money. It brings violence, fear and exploitation into communities that deserve better.
“This is one of several arrests we’ve made recently. Every time county lines tries to creep into Wantage, we’ll be there — and we’ll stop them.
“A huge thank‑you to our fantastic colleagues from Abingdon and Faringdon neighbourhood police teams for backing us up. Teamwork keeps our communities safe.”
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