Now it looks as if Amal Alamuddin will be sailing up the Thames with her new husband to the couple’s first marital home together in Sonning Eye.

This week the village was awash with the news that the celebrity couple have purchased the Grade II listed Aberlash Manor nestled on a four acre island in the Thames River straddling the Berkshire and Oxfordshire border.

Previous owner, London-based banker Omar Bayoumi, confirmed that he had sold the house but when asked who had bought it, said: “I’m afraid I am unable to comment.” He did not, however, deny that the purchaser was the Hollywood legend.

The nine-bedroom luxury home, next door to the Mill at Sonning theatre, was built in the 17th century and was once owned by the Rich family and Lords of the Manor of Sonning.

Last year it was listed on RightMove at £10million but recently the property was being marketed on exclusive property website luxos.com with a “price on application” tag.

The stunning home boasts a gym and steam room, a library, study, family room, formal dining room and cellar and a boat house.

The kitchen has an Aga and the breakfast room overlooks a sun-soaked terrace and formal gardens reach down to the water.

It is thought that Clooney, 53, fell in love with the area when he visited the small Oxfordshire village of Fingest last June to shoot scenes of Hollywood movie The Monuments Men, which he was directing.

The couple moving into the village was the talk of the neighbourhood this week after George and his wife were spotted at the local pub The Bull last Saturday.

Marisol Frost, 39, and Sarah Hele, 40, said there were lots of great things to do throughout the year in the village which is also home to Home Secretary Theresa May and spooner-bender Uri Geller.

Mrs Frost said: “It’s nice that he has chosen Sonning and we will make them very welcome. The primary school is also very good — if they decided to have any children!

“We are used to seeing celebrity faces around here so he will get privacy.”

And Mrs Hele added: “We have the village show every year and the Scarecrow hunt every two years. The village rounders match is also great fun and the school children do a lovely nativity play in the local church.

“We are a small, friendly community where people get involved. It’s a great place.”

The pair advised that as long as Clooney avoided rush hour when Sonning gets clogged up with commuter traffic, he should be fine.

Lock Keeper and neighbour Keith Burnage is hoping the pair will visit his lock cafe where they can enjoy homemade cakes and cream teas.

He said: “Well apparently he is a good chap. I know because my son Mark was an extra in the last film George directed The Monuments Men.”

The keeper, whose riverside home was isolated due to last year’s winter flooding, said the newlyweds should not be affected by rising water. “The water gets high and right up to the home — but not in it,” he said.

The landlady of the 630-year-old pub The Bull, Christine Mason, was keeping tight-lipped on whether the couple had popped in for a drink on Saturday, as most villagers claim.

She said: “They are more than welcome to come here to have a great English pint and food. We are a real taste of England.”

And neighbour The Reverend Jamie Taylor said the couple were most welcome at St Andrew’s Church, in Thames Street, that was at the centre of village life.