Investors searching for rural land may be interested in taking advantage of a unique opportunity – a Lake District mountain is on the market for £1.75m. And if, if that is not enough to tempt potential buyers, the successful bidder will be entitled to use the feudal title of Lord of the Manor of Threlkeld.
The 2,850ft Blencathra peak, also known as Saddleback, is being sold by Lonsdale Estates, which manages 30,000 acres of Cumbrian countryside on behalf of the 8th Earl of Lonsdale. The earl has been forced into the sale in order to pay off a hefty inheritance tax bill following the death of his father in 2006.
Blencathra is described as a jewel in Lakeland’s crown but, faced with the £9m tax demand, the earl has chosen to place it on the market in order to retain the core of the estate and avoid the eviction of tenanted farmers.
Along with the feudal title the buyer will have the right to apply for an individual coat of arms. They will also acquire grazing rights for 5,471 ewes, 732 hogs and 200 lambs.
But who is likely to buy a Cumbrian mountain when even Earl Lonsdale himself concedes he can think of better things to spend money on?
Because the land is located within the Lake District National Park the National Trust may step in but, failing that, the Earl hopes that Blencathra will attract the interest of overseas investors.
“Who’s got the money?” he asks in the Telegraph. “We know the Chinese have got it and the Russians have got it. We’re hoping there will be some daft Russian who wants it to show off.”
John Robson, who is handling the sale of the mountain, says it is unlike any sale he has previously been involved in and that it is a “once in a lifetime” opportunity.
Asked by the BBC who he thought the eventual buyer might be, he compared the market with that for jewellery and art.
“If you were selling a 2,500 acre farm it really wouldn’t be anything to write home about, other than a nice farm,” he said. “Here, you’ve got something you can look at – a landscape.”
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