A DORSET estate and manor have gone on the open market for the first time in almost 150 years.

Ilsington Estate and the former Ilsington House at Puddletown are for sale with a combined £18million price tag.

The agricultural and sporting estate is set in 2,369 acres and includes farms, cottages, residential properties, woodland, workshops, and fishing rights.

It is on the market with Chesterton Humberts for offers in excess of £12million.

Ilsington House, which now sits off the estate, was sold around 35 years ago and is known today as the Old Manor.

The Grade II-listed house has nine acres of land, five bedrooms, and a staff or guest wing, and has a guide price of £6million with Savills estate agents.

Former occupants Peter and Penelope Duff last year shocked the village when they ended their lives together at a voluntary euthanasia clinic in Switzerland.

Craig Horton, director of Chesterton Humberts, said the estate has already generated ‘substantial interest’ from local, national and international buyers.

He said: “It’s a unique opportunity to buy a fairly substantial part of Dorset, the like of which hasn’t been seen for a while.”

The estate is for sale as a whole or eight lots with sub-lots, ranging from £30,000 for paddocks, to £3million for one of the three farms. There are also two vacant residential properties, 10 let cottages, 653 acres of Puddletown Forest, currently let to the Forestry Commission, a further 219 acres of woodland, a range of let business workshops, and fishing rights on the River Frome and its sidestreams.

The estate can be traced back to the 12th century when it was granted as part of the Puddletown Manor to the Redvers family.

In the 17th century the Manor was granted to Henry Hastings by James I, but by the late 18th century the estate was in the hands of Robert Walpole, son of the first Prime Minister.

One of the most renowned occupants, between 1780 and 1830, was General Thomas Garth, principal squire to King George III.

It is rumoured that the General adopted the king’s illegitimate grandson and raised him there.

It was acquired by John Brymer in 1861 and has remained in the family until now.

In recent years the house has had a complete restoration and in 2000 it was presented with the Dorset Architectural Heritage Award.