‘Tempting’ sporting estate potential from twin Dorset farms

Two neighbouring farms in Dorset are coming to the market at the same time this month, as the owners plan for their retirement from farming.

Cruxton Farm and Greenford Farm, near Dorchester, have 280-290 acres and are described by Will Wallis, of marketing agent Symonds & Sampson, as attractive commercial farms in their own right.

The simultaneous timing of the sales presents another opportunity, he adds. “Combined, the two farms present the tempting potential for a sizeable estate with established sporting value.”

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Greenford Farm © Symonds & Sampson

Cruxton Farm is currently an arable and livestock holding and has a well-established and successful commercial shoot run by the owners.

At Greenford Farm, the current enterprises are pig and arable production.

Both farms are on chalk and flint soils typical of this region, and have an extensive range of modern agricultural buildings.

Residential accommodation on each is a four-bedroom farmhouse.

Symonds & Sampson is launching Cruxton Farm and Greenford Farm this month, each has a guide price of £4m for the whole.

Upland grazing

West Hill Edge Farm © Michie Group

In the north of England, at Galphay, Ripon, Savills is bringing a 160-acre upland livestock farm to the market.

West Hill Edge Farm, a ring-fenced holding, has a mixture of improved grassland, pastureland and rough grazing, enclosed by a mix of dry-stone walls and stockproof post and wire fences.

It slopes gently south towards Lumley Moor Reservoir.

This Grade 4 and 5 land could be improved and drained to further increase productivity.

The soils are fine loam and also fine loam over clay with a peaty surface.

A Higher Level Stewardship agreement generates an annual income of more than £9,500.

Savills says the farm buildings are coming towards the end of their useful lives, but provide a footprint for development or modernisation for agricultural and equestrian use, subject to the necessary planning consents.

The three-bedroom farmhouse was built in the mid 1990s and has an agricultural occupancy condition in place. There is also a two-bedroom bungalow, currently generating income as holiday accommodation.

West Hill Edge Farm is being marketed at a guide price of £1.65m for the whole.

Also in the north, South Farm, a 303-acre arable and improved grassland farm at Barlow, near Newcastle, is on the market.

South Farm © Michie Group

It is being marketed by the Michie Group at £2.73m for the whole, or is available in five lots.

Selling agent Tim Michie says the farm steading and main farmhouse, which lie in the centre of Barlow village, present “real development potential” through the use of existing permitted development rights and the government’s announcement on new “grey belt” development.

“South Farm benefits from roadside frontage throughout, presenting a great investment opportunity for farmers, lifestyle and investment purchasers,” says Mr Michie.

The land has been farmed in a traditional cropping rotation as part of a mixed farming enterprise and has benefited from regular applications of farmyard manure.

“The farm is currently not part of any schemes. It has been left like this for any incomers to be able to either incorporate it as part of an existing scheme or left so they have a blank canvas, depending on their appetite for the schemes,” says Mr Michie.

There are a number of overages in place, which range in scale from a 10% to 25% clawback for up to 25 years if the land on which the conditions apply is developed.