Captain Sir Tom Moore's home on sale for £2.25m

  • Published
Capt Sir Tom MooreImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Capt Sir Tom won the nation's hearts with his fundraising walk, which took in 100 laps of his garden

The family home where Captain Sir Tom Moore raised millions for NHS charities during the pandemic has been put up for sale for £2.25m.

The house and grounds in Marston Moretaine, in Bedfordshire, became well-known after the Army veteran walked laps around the garden, raising £38m for NHS Charities Together.

He lived there with his daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore and her family.

The Grade II listed property has seven bedrooms and four bathrooms.

In a marketing video posted online, estate agent Hadyn van Weenen said the Old Rectory featured an "iconic and very famous driveway".

The estate had seven bedrooms, four reception rooms, four bathrooms and a separate coach house, that was being used as a gym but had planning permission to be converted into an annex, the agency said.

The "enclosed and secluded grounds" were set in 3.5 acres, with a pond and "part moat".

Interested parties would be required to sign a confidentiality agreement prior to viewing, the property agent said.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
The unauthorised spa was built after the captain's death, but has since been demolished

Capt Sir Tom was born in Keighley, West Yorkshire, in 1920.

He served in India and Myanmar during World War Two, when it was known as Burma, but at the age of 99 he became an international star by walking laps around his garden.

His 100th birthday on 30 April 2020 was marked with an Royal Air Force flypast, personal birthday greetings from Elizabeth II and the prime minister, and he was made an honorary colonel of the British Army.

On 17 July 2020, he was knighted for his fundraising efforts in the grounds of Windsor Castle.

Image source, PA Media
Image caption,
Initially planning permission was approved for the building in the grounds of the family home. It was intended to host memorabilia and celebrate Capt Sir Tom's legacy

After Capt Sir Tom's death in February 2021 aged 100, the family home was in the spotlight again when his daughter and her husband applied for planning permission for a building to celebrate Capt Sir Tom's legacy.

Central Bedfordshire Council initially approved plans but later the authority refused revised proposals, which included a spa, after it had already been partly built.

In June 2022, the Charity Commission said it had launched an inquiry into the Captain Tom Foundation, which was set up by the family to support "causes close to Capt Sir Tom's heart" following his death.

It said the inquiry was amid concerns his family may have profited from using his name.

The foundation said it would "work closely" with the inquiry.

Last year, the family's lawyer Scott Stemp said the foundation was "unlikely to exist" in the future.

"It's not news to anybody that the foundation, it seems, is to be closed down following an investigation by the Charity Commission," he said during a Planning Inspectorate hearing.

You can hear more about the Captain Tom story on our podcast