Banks's chief calls time on family manor

The boss of Wolverhampton's Banks's brewery has called time on the family home of eight decades – putting it on the market for £1.85 million.

Greenhills in Codsall has been the residence of the Thompson family since 1927 when EJ Thompson, then chairman of the former Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries, acquired the grand house.

Since then four generations have owned the property, set within 15 acres of grounds, but EJ's great-grandson David Thompson and his sisters have opted to sell up.

Mr Thompson is the latest in a long line to become chairman of Marston's, the former Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries, but has chosen to end his family's long association with the historic Victorian Grade II listed home.

"Two of my sisters live in London, one in New Zealand and I have a farm about two miles away, so after the death of our mother we have now decided to sell it," he said.

"It will be bittersweet, but I have happy memories of living there as a child." Built in the 1840s, the Thompsons have done little to the property since moving in.

It boasts three spacious reception rooms leading off a hallway featuring an oak staircase while there is also a library and former servants wing. It includes a sitting room, kitchen with Aga range, two pantries and a large cellar. Upstairs there are seven bedrooms with fireplaces complete with cast iron grates and casement windows.

There are three family bathrooms but installing en suites is an option for a buyer who wants to make changes.

"Whoever built the house in the 1840s really gave some thought to proportion, the elegance of the rooms and the amount of light that comes in," Mr Thompson said.

Among the 15 acres of garden, paddocks, pasture, arable and woodland which surrounds the home there is more accommodation in the form of the lodge cottage or gate house close to the entrance.

The home is being sold by Savills. It has two reception rooms, a kitchen, three bedrooms and a family bathroom and could provide a rental income.