IT has seven bedrooms suites, five reception rooms, a snooker room, its own cricket pitch and is set in 83 acres of rolling historic parkland, and it can be yours for £6 million.

Described as the most important property for sale in North Yorkshire at the moment, Howsham Hall, near Malton, is for sale for only the third time in its 400-year history.

The former boys’ preparatory, school, which was recently converted back to a private residence, is now on the books of Savills Estate Agent’s, who said that interest in the house has been high.

“We have had an incredible response to the marketing so far, having shown around over a dozen people from whom we have serious interest,” said a spokesman for the agents.

“This really is a one-off. Houses of this quality very rarely come to the market.

The spokesman said a majority of those who had shown an interest in the house were from Yorkshire and the North East.

“The chances are it will be bought by someone within the area,” he said.

The house was built in 1610 by Sir William Bamburgh and for much of its history was the family home of the Cholmleys, before it passed to the Strickland family, who sold it in 1948.

The following 50 years saw the hall used as a preparatory school for boys before its closure in 2007 due to dwindling pupil numbers.

The owners have converted the house back to a private residence.

Within its grounds, Howsham Hall boasts half a mile of frontage on to the River Derwent, including fishing rights and a boat house.