Some people travel miles to find a church they feel comfortable with but one lucky buyer need look no further than the back garden.

Church Cottage, a detached three-bedroom house on the market for £400,000 in Tismans Common, near Horsham, has a small chapel in the middle of its garden.

The church was built in 1931 as a gift to the rural hamlet after money was set aside for it in the will of the former owner of the house, Mr Tuff.

One of its walls is just five feet from the home's bathroom and it has high, vaulted ceilings, room for 40 worshippers and a service every other Sunday.

But owner Andrew Wollington said it was far from obtrusive and blocked none of the rural views, had a separate entrance down a path from outside and attracted only a small, quiet congregation of around ten.

He said he bought the quirky home five years ago with his then partner Yvonne Hares and had only been inside the chapel once when his cat climbed through a high window and got trapped.

He said: "We found it quite endearing at the time. It is a little bit individual and unique and not many people can say they have got a chapel in the garden.

"I suppose it could be an acquired taste but we just fell in love with the house. The chapel itself is a really nice building.

"Neither of us really do the church thing so we don't use the chapel but they make very little noise and don't encroach on us at all.

"We don't know they are there half the time."

Alan Pavia of Roger Coupe Estate Agents in Cranleigh, in charge of selling the cottage, in Loxwood Road: "It is a very unusual property, very individual - even quirky if you like.

"I think it is going to be a very attractive buy.

"The fact that it has a chapel in the back garden will not put people off, the opposite if anything.

"People love things with a bit of character and this has got plenty of that."

There will be an open day on April 14 from 10am to 2am. Call 01483 268555 for more information.