Snooping around

Property of the week: Chichester, West Sussex. A leper hospital during Henry I's reign thanks to its position outside the city, this property is now a three-bedroom home. It was flattened by fire in 1781 but most of the materials were salvaged, and it rose from the ashes in a similar form. Your £349,950 buys an olde worlde kitchen/breakfast room with stone floor, and a large, leafy garden. It's a shame there's a busy road at the other end of the lawn.
King & Chasemore, 01243 783173 Photograph: King & Chasemore/King & Chasemore

Wreck of the week: Ludlow, Shropshire. This one-bedroom cottage has been seriously neglected. For £35,000 you could extend the shower room into a rear plot, renew the fittings and tame the flora growing through the walls, but it will still be minute and topsy-turvy with the bedroom downstairs. And gardenless. On the plus side, you could end up with a snug pied-à-terre in the centre of this pretty Shropshire town. Cost: £115,000.
Strutt & Parker, 01584 873711 Photograph: Strutt & Parker/Strutt & Parker

Take three: homes with royal connections. Anne Boleyn is said to have been born at Rochford Hall, this moated manor in Essex, which she later used for trysts with Henry VII. Built in 1540, it boasts Tudor archways and fireplaces. Modern touches include a pool and sauna. A three-bedroom annexe, on top of three bedrooms in the main house, means there's plenty of room, but even £1.4m won't buy the whole building - it's shared with three other households.
Strutt & Parker, 01245 258201 Photograph: Strutt & Parker/Strutt & Parker

Take three: homes with royal connections. Before her marriage, Princess Diana spent some of her happiest years in a flat near Old Brompton Road - in the same building where this home is now for sale. A tenuous connection maybe, but a good excuse to showcase this three-bedroom pad in one of London's swankiest postcodes. There's no parking, but for a princessly £1.5m you get two receptions, a kitchen/breakfast room and three bathrooms.
Marsh & Parsons, 020 7591 5570 Photograph: Marsh & Parsons/Marsh & Parsons

Take three: homes with royal connections. Back in the mists of time this was apparently James I’s hunting lodge, and the royal coat of arms adorns a chimneypiece in one of the five bedrooms. As well as a main house fit for a king - with four receptions, a breakfast room and pool - the property boasts stables, a self-contained flat and eight acres. On the downside, the grade II-listed status puts the kibosh on any grand redesigns. The cost? £1.25m.
Carter Jonas, 01223 368771 Photograph: Carter Jonas/Carter Jonas