What springs to mind when you think of the infamous Kray twins? Chances are, it’s the streets and bars of east London: the spots where the brothers hung out and ran their vast crime empire in the 1950s and 60s. But did you know that they also had an affinity for the English countryside?
Well, the twins’ secret rural manor, in the small Suffolk town of Bildeston, near Hadleigh, has just hit the market for just £2.25 million.
In their memoirs, the pair said they fell in love with Suffolk when they were sent to live in the market town of Hadleigh as child evacuees during World War II. The brothers, Ronnie and reggie, apparently always pledged they would return and buy a house there when they could afford it.
They snapped up this secluded seven-bedroom property in 1967 for the meagre sum of £11,000. Villagers recall how police searched the property and even dug up part of the garden in a search for bodies in the days after the gangers were arrested in May 1968, following the murder of gang member Jack ‘The Hat’ McVitie (for which Reggie Kray was later convicted).
The property, which is currently a family home, is described as an ‘exceptional unlisted period house of elegant proportions and versatile accommodation’ by estate agents Bedfords. The sixteenth-century home includes a separate cottage, plus other outbuildings including a studio, gym, office and even games room. The main building has stained-glass interior windows, a decadent drawing room and a cloakroom.
Bedfords described the grounds of the house as ‘one of the most exceptional settings we have seen for some time’.
So, why not take a trip to Hadleigh and imagine the infamous duo meandering around the village, popping into the country inn for a quick sandwich before hitting the road back to Whitechapel?
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