A 3,000-acre country house and estate has been bought by health resort group Champneys.

Eastwell Manor in Ashford will come under the new ownership on Tuesday, November 1, after the deal for an undisclosed sum.

Its 62-bedroom hotel will become known as Champneys at Eastwell, alongside its two restaurants, spa and leisure facilities and is set to receive an £8 million makeover.

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Champneys owner Stephen Purdew made the announcement to staff and business associates at the estate yesterday.

Turrloo Parrett, who has owned the business since 1995, will continue as official owner but will pass the management reins over to the Purdew family.

Mr Parrett said: "We are delighted that we are now involved with Champneys.

"I think it will be wonderful beginning for Ashford, Eastwell Manor is a great product and I want it to continue.

"We are happy that we have Champneys to take it forward and see it continue down the path that we started 20 years ago."

Eastwell Manor is The Champneys Group's first new acquisition in 10 years, will be their fifth resort spa and is the group’s first resort in Kent.

Mr Purdew said: "We’re really happy, we love the property, love the area and are really happy to be in Kent.

"There’s a real shortage of quality hotels in this area and there’s nothing really that stands out.

"But this will become an iconic, 5* hotel with a spa that competes with those in the Cotswolds.

"We’ll invest £6 to £8 million in the next 18 months and we will hopefully put additional bedrooms on.

"There are 140 people working here now so hopefully that will increase to 250 to 300.

"We haven’t got to reinvent the wheel, the basics are here, they have some very good staff and they have some very good standards of service and I’m sure we can build upon that"

Mr Purdew, who owns Champneys with his mum Dorothy and runs the business with his wife Isabelle, said they have had their eye on Eastwell Manor for more than 18 months.

He added: "Mr Parrett is getting on a bit and there needed to be an investment because it became apparent that were two options, either the business would either stagnate and do nothing, or someone was going to have to come in, acquire it and invest.

"I just pestered the life out of them until they sold it to me! There comes a time when a property as beautiful as these needs a new energy and new investment."

The building’s origins date back to the Norman conquest and has been run by the Parrett family since 1995.

Champneys was launched in 1925 and operates four resort spas and six city spas in the UK.