We live next to cottage made famous on Cadbury’s boxes – we’re thrilled the owners are flogging it… it’s a total dump
A PICTURESQUE thatched cottage that featured on boxes of Cadbury’s chocolates more than 155 years ago is up for sale at almost £800,000 – and people living nearby can’t wait for somebody to buy it.
The 16th century, timber-framed Weavers, smack bang in the middle of the tiny Suffolk village of Stradishall, looks rather unloved after being rented out with AirBnB for the last four years.
“It’s such a beautiful house but does need some tender, loving care,” said one neighbour tending the roses in his garden a few doors away on The Street, as the main road through the village is known.
“I don’t think Richard Cadbury, who founded the chocolate company, would probably use the photograph now without doing a bit of fancy touching up first.
“The house looks rather neglected. The garden is a bit overgrown, the ivy appears out of control, one window might be going rotten, the fence fell down at one point and the whole place needs a lick of paint.
“We’ll be glad when it’s sold and hopefully turned back into a family home rather than being let out as an AirBnB.
READ MORE UK NEWS
“You get all sorts of folk staying there at the moment, sometimes whole groups of people.
"Most are nice and absolutely fine, but some play loud music which disturbs our peace, and, of course, there are often car doors slamming late at night.”
The four-bedroom Grade II-listed house boasts characterful exposed wooden beams and solid oak floors, along with a double garage.
Outside in the garden is a pond with koi carp and a waterfall.
Most read in The Sun
Lottie Woods, from estate agents Jackson-Stops, said: “Weavers has the character and charm as well as an interesting history.
"It was one of only 12 cottages that Cadbury featured on their finest chocolate boxes.”
The village Stradishall, with its Norman church of St Margaret, was mentioned in the Domesday Book and Lottie added: “It is a quintessentially English village.”
But it has expanded with a lot of new housing built since the “Weavers chocolate boxes” went on sale in 1868.
Despite the growing population, the local school closed many years ago and has long been converted into a house.
So too have the village hall and the post office. There is now no local shop, while the nearest pub is about a mile away.
But Kathy Stansford, who lives a few doors away from Weavers in a very similar thatched cottage, said: “I moved here a few years ago during the Covid lockdown and absolutely love the place.
“It really is a very chocolate box-type village, with some of the houses dating back to Medieval times.
"We’re surrounded by beautiful countryside, the people are lovely and there is a great community spirit among the residents.
“Everybody is rallying round at the moment to try and raise the £ 1.2 million we need to repair the roof at the church.
“And I think it’s kind of nice that one of the village houses once featured on a chocolate box.”
Another villager, who asked not to be named, said: “Most of us will be glad when Weavers is sold. Some of the people staying there since it became an AirBnB can be a bit of a nuisance.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
“Not many people know that it used to be on a Cadbury’s chocolate box, though.
"Perhaps we should keep that fairly quiet in case we get inundated with tourists taking photographs!”
