The description does not appear in any medieval document as a name, or part of the name, of a house. In some cases, the name was added only in the mid-19th century when properties suddenly required a a postal address.

Thousands of handsome country homes may be called either “manor”, “manor house”, “the old manor house” — or “court”, in the West Country. Although, for many people, “old manor house” is a postal address almost as lustworthy as “old rectory”, many “manor houses” may not be all that they seem. This may come as a surprise to some of those who see the “old manor” or ‘court” as their next address.

Crispin Holborow, head of Savills’ country department, says that manor houses tend to be large family homes, with more land and privacy than rectories, which are inevitably in the village near the church.

“This makes them popular with celebrities and CEOs — people who value their privacy. They are also increasingly popular with buyers who want to put more money into land as well as bricks and mortar. Both are tangible assets.”

There are currently several gorgeous properties suitable for this kind of urbanite seeking a rural idyll. Manors are mostly found in Gloucestershire, Devon and Hampshire. There are about 30 officially for sale in this area and probably another 20 available for private sale. Manor houses often change hands without marketing or publicity, according to Tom Hudson, of Middleton Advisers.

Those officially for sale include the 15th-century, Grade II* listed Old Manor House at Poffley End in Oxfordshire, which has a guide price of £1.65 million. Built of pale oatmeal stone with Cotswold stone roof tiles, it has a gable with nesting boxes for doves and stone mullion windows. There are five bedrooms, with two more in a cottage in the grounds, which cover three-quarters of an acre.

The Grade II listed Manor House at Pirbright in Surrey, another 15th-century house, has more extensive grounds — 18 acres, with woodland and a pond — and seven bedrooms. It is on the market for £3.95 million. Saddlewood Manor, in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, is a more expensive proposition — £5.25 million, reduced from £6 million — but this late 17th-century house does come with 172 acres, making it more of an estate.

Court Farm at Wookey, near Wells, Somerset, illustrates the maintenance or restoration that manor houses can require. The house, which sits in 11.5 acres and is on the market for £1 million, is a scheduled ancient monument. It was built for Bishop Jocelyn of Wells and has a doorway with stiff leaf capitals similar to that at the west front of Wells Cathedral.

John Winstone, an architect, and his wife, Rosie, acquired the property 13 years ago. He explains: “The whole place was damp from top to bottom and without heating, and the front wall was falling outwards.”

Mr Winstone put in steel straps to hold the walls together and reckons he is two thirds of the way through repairs. “We have what the king took from the bishop in 1550. The house was built in 1220 for King John’s Deputy Chancellor, using the masons working on the cathedral. We reroofed the stable, made it into a studio and put back the 1460 parlour.”

The Winstones are reluctant sellers. “Repairs have been expensive and architects’ incomes are down. We have decided that it’s time to let someone else complete the job. I don’t want to be sitting here aged 75 without the funds to run the place.”

But people who have not made a pile may also be interested in living in a stately pile, or in part of one. Prices of apartments in converted manor houses start at about £86,500. This is the price of a flat in Bowbridge on the edge of Stroud in Gloucestershire.

Whatever price you are prepared to pay, these are the facts you need:

• Manor derives from the Old French maneir, to dwell, whose root was the Latin manere, to remain.

• In the Middle Ages a manor was a legal and judicial entity through which justice was administered.

• Estate agents selling a manor house will often say that a house is mentioned in the Domesday Book. This was a reference not to the house, but to the land on which it stood.

• A medieval manor may not have appeared in any document of the time. But the houses called manors did have a typical layout, based on a great hall open to the roof trusses.

• This arrangement has many similarities with the layout of a Roman villa. This led historians to argue that the manor house’s origins date back to the Roman occupation of Britain.

• An “old manor house” may be a property close to a village which, in the 18th century, was the home of the London squire. He moved into something grander that was set in parkland. Sometimes the village property would be renamed “manor farm” to avoid any confusion with the stately pile.

• In the 21st century listed farmhouses have been renamed as manors to add lustre and push up prices. Such a ploy may be futile, says Tony Morris-Eyton, of Savills: “The house should have some architectural stature. Where manor or manor house has been added in the past 50 years, it won’t add cachet or value,” he says. “Buyers from London understand the difference between an upgraded farm and a proper hall or traditional manor house. It’s a bit of an elephant test. You have to see it to believe it.”

Jonathan Harington, of the search agent Harington’s UK, says that new buyers should be aware that ownership of the manor can come with some onerous expectations. “The manor is usually the ‘big house’ of the village and buyers often find that it is the place where events such as the church fête are held. If you pull up the drawbridge and shutter the windows on the rest of the village, you will find that it goes down badly.”

He expects fewer manors to come onto the market in the next few months, as owners shun the slow property market and take a long summer break. If by September there is a shortage for sale, as he predicts, buyers may need to consider some of the smaller dwellings in the village.

For some, it is no hardship to compromise. Buyers’ scepticism may be one reason why the old rectory brand can have the edge over the old manor, as Tim Jackson-Stops, formerly of the estate agency Jackson-Stops & Staff, explains: “Strangely, when it comes to selling a house, old rectory is a better tag than manor. It doesn’t have the grandeur, which some buyers might be uncomfortable with, and it’s probably a bit more manageable.”

Additional reporting by Francesca Steele Old Manor House, Oxfordshire:

01993 822661; jackson-stops.co.uk Manor House, Surrey:

020-7861 1552; knightfrank.com Saddlewood Manor, Gloucestershire:

020-7409 5916; savills.co.uk Court Farm, Somerset:

01749 685220; jackson-stops.co.uk

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