Miriam Margolyes' £10k clifftop home she's leaving behind for partner Heather

Miriam Margolyes recently revealed that she is intending to move in with her partner, Heather Sutherland, in Italy, leaving the UK behind.

As she relocates, the 84-year-old is leaving behind her gorgeous clifftop home, the Gun Emplacement, in Kent, with the most magnificent sea view overlooking St Margaret's Bay, Dover.

© Nick Skinner/Daily Mail/Shutterstock

The former military lookout, which was built by the British Army in 1910, has been owned by the Harry Potter actress for more than 40 years.

In an interview with Great British Life in 2025, she explained that she bought it in 1977 for just £10,000. Miriam said: "It's not glamorous. It's comfortable."

The comedian also rents out the property as a holiday let with rates starting at £375 per week, because it "gives her peace", adding: "I want others to have that too."

These days, the publication reports that the property is looked after by a local couple who ensure that guests are comfortable. It sleeps up to six people, and is geographically the closest property in England to France.

© Jeff Spicer

Miriam also owns the land behind the home, and is planning to donate it to the National Trust, to preserve its peace for the generations to come. The house is not her primary residence in the UK, as she has lived in Clapham, south London since 1975.

Miriam Margolyes' plans to leave the home behind

In an interview with The Observer in September 2025, she revealed that the time is right for her and Heather to live together, despite previously stating that the secret to their long-lasting relationship was the fact that they lived separately.

The 84-year-old said: "The world around us has lost its charm. And we just want each other in a beautiful place which we know. We can toddle along and laugh and just quietly subside into old age. But together. We're here for such a short time. It's gone so fast. Mentally I'm still fairly crisp."

© Isabel Infantes - PA Images

Though Miriam and Heather have been together for nearly 60 years, they have spent the majority of their time as a couple living apart. "She is in Amsterdam, and I am in London but now we want to live together," the Harry Potter actress explained. 

"I really do want to live with her because we are old, and we haven't got much time left," she continued. "It is silly to live apart."