Farmland adjoining iconic landmark for sale in Dorset

Farmland surrounding one of the UK’s most iconic in-field landmarks, the Cerne Giant, is looking for a new owner.

Giant Hill is 336 acres of productive arable and chalk downland at Cerne Abbas in the Dorset national landscape area. It is for sale on the open market for the first time in a century.

Marketing agent Symonds & Sampson describes Giant Hill as an “intriguingly diverse mix of ecological, agricultural and historically important land”.

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The Cerne Giant chalk carving itself is owned by the National Trust and so is not included in the sale.

Giant Hill does have an Iron Age settlement, associated field system and bowl barrow, all of which provide important information on the beliefs and social organisation of the early prehistoric community which built it.

These features and the large acreage of farmland will make the property appeal to a wide range of buyers, from investors and farmers to the conservation and historic sectors, says Symonds & Sampson.

Potential alternative uses

There is a range of outbuildings which, subject to planning, offer potential for a range of uses.

Entry Level and High Level Stewardship Scheme agreements, which give an income of about £20,000/year, are in place until 30 September 2028.

The former dairy farm falls within a groundwater and eutrophic water nitrate vulnerable zone and is on the market at a guide price of £2.9m or is available in up to five lots.

Retirement and relocation sales

Breakough and Kirkton Farms © Savills

In Scotland, retirement brings Breakough and Mid Kirkton Farms on the Isle of Great Cumbrae, North Ayrshire, to the market.

The vendors have farmed Breakough Farm since the 1950s, adding Mid Kirkton at a later date, and then acquired both farms from the Mount Stewart Trust in 2000.

These are combined into an arable and stock rearing unit on 182 acres of arable land, 125 acres of permanent pasture, with 205 acres of woodland and rough grazing, all of which is within a less favoured area.

There are a range of farm buildings and two four-bedroom farmhouses, one of which is rented out.

Savills is marketing Breakough and Mid Kirkton Farms at a guide price of £1.5m.

Shawsknowe © Savills

The firm is also the agent for another new launch in the region, Shawsknowe at Maybole, South Ayrshire, which is for sale because the owners are relocating.

The 67-acre sheep farm has grazing land and woodland, multiple outbuildings, and a three-bedroom farmhouse.

The land, in 14 fields, rises from 10m to 190m above sea level, and is classified as a mixture of Class 4(1) and 4(2) by the James Hutton Institute.

The outbuildings have a 6.8kW solar installation with a 5.2kW battery, providing energy for the farm and an income from surplus electricity sold to the grid.

The buildings are said to be in good order and offer potential alternative opportunities including redevelopment to residential or holiday use.

Shawsknowe is on the market at a guide price of £810,000.

Bankhead Farm © Galbraith

Also in Scotland, an arable and grassland farm that has been in the same family for three generations has just been launched.

Bankhead Farm in West Fife is a 156-acre holding with Grade 2 and 3 land that has been used for growing high-yielding crops, including vegetables which the owners sell through their own farm shop and spring barley sold for malting.

A range of farm buildings includes a cattle court for winter housing for the farm’s small herd of suckler cows.

The five-bedroom farmhouse has been used as two separate homes, but there is an interlinking door connecting the two.

Galbraith is seeking offers of more than £1.8m for Bankhead Farm.  

Great Ash © Stags

In Devon, Stags is relaunching Great Ash Farm, described as a livestock and sporting holding with stunning views and no near neighbours.

With almost 257 acres, the farm is in the Exmoor National Park, between Winsford and Withypool. It has been in the current family’s ownership for three generations and comes to the market because of retirement.

The farm was put on the market last August, but was withdrawn over the winter.

Stags is marketing the holding at a guide price of £3.25m.

It has a five-bedroom farmhouse, a traditional courtyard and more modern stock housing and machinery storage buildings.

The land is a mix of pasture for mowing and grazing and steeper grazing fields, with an area of younger woodland on a steeper bank.