A building that used to belong to the Earl of Warwick is just one of the lots going under the hammer at auction next month.

Number 2 St John's Warwick is one of a pair of cottages next to St John's Museum and which has been in the Hill family for three generations.

Believed to date back to the 17th century, this grade II listed three-bedroom home used to be part of the St John's Estate and spent nearly 200 years in the ownership of the Earl of Warwick before being bought by the Hill family.

William Hill, the most recent owner, had been the head gardener at Warwick Castle. His family owned the Hill Close Gardens near the Racecourse and which are named after them.

With a guide price of £160,000, the property will be featured in the Sheldon Bosley Knight (SBK) sale at Stratford-upon-Avon Town Hall on Wednesday, November 29.

SBK's auctioneer Matt Burrows said: "This is a fantastic and very exciting lot. It represents a unique opportunity for the sympathetic redevelopment and restoration of this historic site which extends across two storeys and includes a sizeable garden at the back.

"Although in need of complete renovation and modernisation, and subject to the appropriate planning permission and listed building consent, it would make a lovely family home."

Both 2 St John's and number 4 next door have evolved over time and were once part of a tannery, connected with the supply of hides from the cattle market on the site of Weston Court and the flow of water in St John's Brook, now under the museum garden.

The front elevation of the building is a late 18th century addition to the much older timber-framed structure.

The auction marks a full year of the reintroduction of auctions by SBK and will include a further 11 lots from across Warwickshire and the West Midlands, all representing great value and investment potential.

Matt said: "Our inaugural auction in November last year raised more than £1.7 million and since then we have had a further three sales raising more than £9 million. I'm confident this one will be just as popular.

"We are seeing an increasing number of people enquiring about auctions as a way to sell their land or property. It represents a great way to do so especially if time, security, or transparency is a driving factor.

"The auction also showcases the different aspects of the SBK business whether from commercial freehold, sale of freehold ground rent, development projects, residential, buy-to-let, rural, land with planning permission, barn conversions or freehold pasture land.

"Please call our auction team on 01789 867123 to register your interest."