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Pic: Savills/BNPS.

Thatched cottages and outbuildings are included in the sale.

One of Dorset's finest country Manor's is up for sale - but you'll need a cool £7.5 million to buy it.

A stunning Tudor manor house that has been visited by writer Thomas Hardy and actors Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier is on the market for £7.5m.

Athelhampton House dates back to the 15th century and was used as a film location for the 1972 film Sleuth, starring Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier.

The Grade I listed property is in the heart of Hardy Country in Puddletown, near Dorchester, Dorset, and Hardy was a regular visitor to the house, which his stonemason father worked on.

For the last 60 years, it has been owned by the Cooke family with three generations of the family building on and enhancing the legacy of the historic home.

But the house is now on the market with estate agents Savills and Knight Frank.