Pirates of the Caribbean superstar has purchased £13m estate in the south west

Living the quiet life in the South West is clearly suiting Hollywood leading man Johnny Depp and helping him forget his movie star hellraising years..

The star of Pirates of the Caribbean and Edward Scissorhands now lives in an 850-acre estate in Somerset, complete with a 19th Century mansion, reports The Mirror.

The superstar splashed a whopping £13million on the Downton Abbey-style estate which features sprawling walled gardens and a shoot.

In a surprise interview with Somerset Life, the actor extolled the advantages of living a quiet life in te British countryside.

The A-lister, 59, told the magazine: “I just love places with character.

British people are cool and will greet you as if you are a neighbour, without going over the top –

I like going to places, seeing things and meeting people but I’m not the great extrovert that people think.

“In truth, I’m quite a shy person. That’s one of the great things about Britain, and especially Somerset.

I can just be me – and that’s nice. I can go into shops without being surrounded by people wanting selfies. I don’t mind that up to a point, but sometimes it gets a little too crowded.”

Just earlier this month, Depp bought three guitars, a skull-encrusted vase and an easel to furnish his new home during a surprise visit to an antiques centre in Lincolnshire.

He arrived at Hemswell Antiques Centres by helicopter and was taken on a private tour after hours.