New farmland launch surge offers varied opportunities

Family succession planning brings a 1,789-acre Staffordshire mixed farming and sporting estate with diverse income streams to the market.

Bagots Park at Abbots Bromley has been in the same ownership for three generations.

During that time, the family has added several ventures that generate substantial alternative income.

See also: Two prime English farming estates brought to market

Farming, though, remains the principal enterprise, with 810 acres of farmland and modern and traditional farm buildings, including grain storage.

Much of the 946 acres of woodland is let to the Forestry Commission.

A Sustainable Farming Incentive agreement is in place until 31 March 2027, while a Countryside Stewardship agreement runs until the end of 2026.

The eight-bedroom principal house has been converted to holiday lets, and further income is generated by some of the estate’s four cottages and bungalows let under assured shorthold tenancies.

There are also commercial lets, including a brewery, and the estate operates a pheasant and partridge shoot.

Louise Harrison of selling agent Savills says: “It is not often that an estate of this scale and calibre is offered for sale in the region.” The guide price is £16m.

Another rare launch, also on the market with Savills, is a ring-fenced arable farm at Witton Gilbert in County Durham.

Witton Hall Farm, guided at £4m, has 381 acres of Grade 3 arable land and 39 acres of permanent grassland. The modern farm buildings include a 6,000t grain store.

Andrew Black, director of farm agency, says the farm also lends itself to environmental stewardship schemes.

Witton Hall Farm © Savills

Arable opportunities

For buyers in the market for high-yielding arable land, Ceres Property is marketing a 79-acre block near Chilham, Kent, split into four good-sized fields.

The Grade 2 and 3 land has been farmed in a rotation of oilseed rape, winter and spring wheat, spring beans, and spring barley.

Agent Peter Mason says the fine, silty soils over chalk are well suited to growing cereals and horticultural crops.

Offers in the region of £750,000 are being sought for the whole.

In Lincolnshire, Bletsoes is launching 132 acres of prime land at Kirton, near Boston.

The Grade 1 silt, available in up to five lots, is capable of growing specialised vegetable and root crops and comes with a £1.8m price tag.

A further 155 acres of Grade 1 arable land at Holland Fen are also on the market with the firm at £1.4m.

For those keener on pasture, GSC Grays is selling a 134-acre grassland farm at Garsdale in Sedbergh, Cumbria, for the same price.

East Bridge End Farm has a modern, general-purpose building, farrowing units, loose livestock housing, a four-bedroom farmhouse and a detached three-bedroom bungalow.

Triple choice

By coincidence, three 260-acre units are being launched this week.

In Berkshire, Rowbury Farm, a fully equipped arable farm at Leckhampstead, near Newbury, sits in a ring-fence with extensive modern and traditional farm buildings, a Grade II listed farmhouse and a pair of cottages.

The property is being marketed by Carter Jonas with a guide price of £6m. It is also available in four lots.

Similarly, in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, a block of prime arable land is also available as a whole or in four lots.

Wellfield House Farm, which is valued at £2.825m, includes 229 acres of Grade 2 arable land that can be irrigated from the River Wiske. The remainder is riverside pasture.

John Coleman, head of farm agency at selling agent GSC Grays, says there is strong competition for the best land in the locality, particularly irrigated soil capable of growing potatoes.

In Ayrshire, another 260-acre farm, also used in part for arable production, has been in the same ownership since 1956.

Coilsholm Farm, at Tarbolton, was run as a dairy holding until 2020 and is now used for rearing beef cattle and growing crops, principally spring barley.

There is a four-bedroom farmhouse and, available by separate negotiation, a pair of semi-detached, two-bedroom cottages, and a four-bedroom bungalow.

Savills is seeking offers above £2.1m.

Coilsholm Farm © Savills