East Horsley in Surrey has been crowned the most exclusive village in Britain. In the past two years, 42 homes were sold for more than £1m - the highest number in the country, according to new data from the property group Savills.
Average house prices in the picturesque village, near the London commuter city of Guildford, have also topped the £1m mark. After rising 17pc over the last year, the average home in East Horsley sells for £1,006,304.
The top 100 richest villages in the UK are scattered across England, with the majority in the London commuter belt. However, villages in Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, Somerset and Cheshire also feature in the ranking, compiled by Savills' analysts.
Here is a selection of the top 100.
East Horsley
East Horsley in Surrey is Britain's wealthiest village
The self-contained village on the edge of Guildford, with its own commutable station for London, has a good selection of shops and schools.
Something of an architectural haven it's known as the “Lovelace village” after Lord Lovelace’s distinctive architectural style reflected in the building projects across that area of Surrey between the 1850s and 1870s.
It also contains a number of Chown houses - built by the architect Frank Chown in the 1920s and 1930s, with original features including wooden beams, solid oak joinery and leading light windows.
Premier addresses include Lynx Hill, Pennymead Drive, High Park Avenue and The Ridings.
For sale: Savills is selling a Frank Chown home, called Woodhatch (below), on the outskirts of East Horsely. It has air conditioning, an integrated Bang and Olufsen speaker system and a compressed water softening system.
Price: £1.395m
Bowdon
A five bedroom house for sale for £3.6m in the Manchester commuter village of Bowdon
Schooling is the primary draw for Bowdon as there are two oustanding grammar schools - Altrincham Grammar School for Boys and Altrincham Grammar School for Girls.
Manchester airport is only four miles away and there are good transport links via the train and Metrolink system, which links directly into Manchester city centre.
The village, which is in “footballer-belt” also boasts high-end restaurants and bars to cater for the residents - there were 27 home sales worth more than £1m in the local area in the past two years.
“Bowden, and its neighbouring village, Hale, has some of the most expensive properties outside London,” said Andrew Thorpe, an estate agent with the Savills Wilmslow branch.
The average house price is £577,086, an increase of 10pc over the last 12 months.
For sale: Hibbert Homes is selling a seven-bedroom house that combines Victorian craftsmanship with contemporary design.
Price: £3.6m
Ditchling
Wings Place, Ditchling, one of Sussex's most histpric houses
This very picturesque village is situated in a conservation area with the backdrop of the South Downs and Brighton just over the brow of the row of hills.
Gatwick and London are accessible and the village has a pond, a green, tea rooms and a gastro pub called the Bull. “It has a lovely very artistic core,” said Liz Hollington, of the Lewes branch of Strutt & Parker. “British painter Eric Gill set up a studio down there, and lots of artists from london in the early to mid 1900s followed.”
The average house price is £623,891.
For sale: Strutt & Parker and Savills are both selling five-bedroom house, Wings Place, with a vaulted guard room and music room.
Price: £1.85m
Great Shelford
The attractive village of Great Shelford is just a stone's throw from Cambridge
Great Shelford is a village-cum-suburb on the outskirts of Cambridge with a butcher and delicatessen.
There is a cycle track into Cambridge University medical campus and train links to London Liverpool Street.
“For families there are a number of good schools nearby,” said James Barnett, of Savills Cambridge “and has high quality housing stock."
The average house price is £542,379 (up 22pc over the last 12 months to March 2015).
For sale: TuckerGardner is selling a five-bedroom home and a separate cottage covering 5,000sq ft in total.
Price: £2.5m
Wellow
Wellow, near Bath is popular with relocating Londoners
Within five miles of Bath, an area that is becoming increasingly popular with Londoners who are relocating, Wellow is a quintessential country village with cottages, converted barns and manor houses. There have been six home sales worth more than £1m since 2013.
It has a strong sense of community with a country church, gastropub, a Church of England school and a village shop.
Within a couple of miles is the Norman Foster designed private hospital, the Circle Hospital.
The average house price has not moved over the last year - £672,667.
For sale: Hamptons is selling a three-bedroom, Grade II-listed, barn conversion near Wellow.
Price: £1.2m
Little Baddow
Little Baddow, near Chelmsford in Essex
The village of Little Baddow in Essex saw seven properties sold for more than £1m and is surrounded by Essex Wildlife Trust woods and heath land.
It’s a thriving village with two pubs, a village hall, two long established churches and its own sports ground and clubhouse, which is home to a cricket club in the summer months. It also has a well-thought of prep school and is popular with London City commuters.
The average house price is £679,969 - up 15pc from March-to-March.
For sale: Savills is selling Tall Trees a detached home over three floors on a private, gated estate. It is one of nine houses on Litchborough Park, all of which are unique but designed to complement one another, and was built in 1997 by Rydon Homes.
Price: £1.65m
Goudhurst
The pond in Goudhurst, one of Kent's most sought-after villages
Very popular with London buyers who don’t want to feel isolated. This Kentish village is in the catchment area of Cranbrook school. It’s not rural, but bustling with shops and pubs. “It’s not one of those villages where nothing is happening, it has a real buzz about it,” said Sarah Simmonds, an estate agent with Savills.
It’s convenient for Tunbridge Wells, and is based around a pond and crossroads, with a half a mile radius of homes.
The average house price is £570,428, up 7pc over the last year.
For sale: Harpers & Hurlingham is selling a five-bedroom detached home that dates back to 1870 with four double bedrooms and four reception rooms.
Price: £1.475m
Brockenhurst
A typical New Forest thatched property in Brockenurst
This is the largest village in the New Forest, Hampshire, with ponies feeding on the green and trotting through the surrounding streams.
Halfway between Southampton and Bournemouth it is also an hour and a half commute to Waterloo.
For sale: Woolley & Wallis is selling a five-bedroom country home (below) with a triple garage surrounded by private parkland and bordering the open forest.
Price: £1.37m
Dorridge
Dorridge is one of Birmingham's prime commuter towns
Dorridge is near Solihull and is in the Birmingham commuter belt.
With a population of 7,800 it is a large village on the edge of open countryside and with commuter trains to both Birmingham and London Marylebone. The National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham International Airport and railway station are a 15 minute drive away.
The average house price is £469,000, an increase of 8pc on last year.
For sale: John Shepherd is selling a five-bedroom, four-bathroom modern, detached home which covers 5,000sq ft. It also boasts a lower ground floor snooker room.
Price: £1.495m
St Mawes
St Mawes: the Cornish holiday hotspot is perfect for sailors
This Cornish village, that sits on the eastern side of the Fal Esuary, is well known for its Hotel Tresanton. Centred around a small stone habour with beach, sailing club and moorings, it’s ideal for keen sailors.
“Lower Castle Road and Tredenham Road are the best addresses in the village and you’ll pay a 15 to 20 percent premium to live there as those homes have estuary views.” said Jonathan Cunliffe, head of Cornwall for Savills.
For sale: Savills is selling a modern home, over three floors and with river views. It is a short walk to the beach and is in a woodland setting.
Price: £1.995m