It could be straight out of a fairytale or a home for a hobbit - either way this Dorset cottage certainly attracts attention.

It has a charming thatched roof and a gently gothic air.

There is a rustic porch with space for a chair or two, a proper kitchen and bathroom all curving round the single-stack chimney, which serves a traditional open fireplace, all surrounded by woodland.

But this tiny, one bedroom Dorset cottage, known as Stockford Lodge at East Stoke, was built as a lodge house to an estate and has a huge history.

It is believed to have originally been built as the lodge house to a grand property which belonged to the family whose ancestor was said to have inspired the writer Ian Fleming to create the character of James Bond.

The cottage is also understood to have been the love-nest of the libidinous post-Impressionist artist Augustus John.

He was as famous for his lifestyle—he was rumoured to have fathered 100 children—as his art and his works include the celebrated portrait of T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") in Arabic dress.

The late husband of the cottage's owner in 2019 was born in the property during the Second World War. The cottage is now used as a holiday home.