Express & Star

Staggering £32m price tag on country estate to hit the market

One of the most expensive properties ever to go on sale in the West Midlands is on the market – for a staggering £32.5 million.

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Fancy a very big house in the country? The eight-bedroom Grade II Listed Burnhill Green farmhouse is just one of the buildings for sale

Buyers with deep pockets are being invited to snap up part of the Patshull Estate near Wolverhampton.

The eye-watering sum buys 3,600 acres of land, three equipped farms, five farm houses and eight cottages for sale as one or as three separate lots.

Estate agents Knight Frank said: “It is an impressive estate with mixed investment and amenity opportunities.

“The Patshull Estate has historically been one of the great Midland estates, the bulk of which has been owned by The Crown Estate since 1958 and has been proactively managed and farmed ever since.

Rooms with a view – there are several ponds and lakes throughout the farmland, including three reservoirs feeding the irrigation system

“The estate is steeped in history with records of a manor house at Patshull as far back as before the Norman Conquest.

"It represents a unique opportunity to acquire a significant landed residential and amenity estate with huge potential.”

The Crown Estate, which manages the Queen’s portfolio of land and properties, owns the ‘significant and diverse’ estate at Patshull, near Pattingham.

It confirmed at least part of the site would be put on the market earlier this year but further details were kept under wraps.

Knight Frank said: “The estate is located on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border, surrounded by idyllic and unspoilt countryside between the hamlet of Burnhill Green and the village of Pattingham.

"At its core and under separate ownership is the magnificent Patshull Hall which, along with its parkland, is now home to the Patshull Park Golf and Country Club with its scenic manicured course and a series of lakes.”

The Patshull Estate does take in the Patshull Activity Centre and the Dartmouth Arms pub at Burnhill Green but these are not part of the sale.

A map of the sprawling Patshull Esate, which is up for grabs for millions

Patshull Hall and the Patsull Park Hotel, Golf and Country Club are not included in the sales plans as they are not owned by the Crown Estate.

The team at Knight Frank added: “The estate was owned for three centuries by the Astley family who supported the King during the Civil War and were made Baronets for their loyalty after the Restoration.

“They sold the estate in 1765 to Sir George Pigot, the Lord Mayor of Bridgnorth and it remained in that family until 1848.

"It was he who engaged his friend Capability Brown to landscape the park for him.

“In 1848 Sir Robert Pigot sold the estate to the Earl of Dartmouth and was the seat of the Earls of Dartmouth until 1958 when the land was gifted to the Crown Estate in lieu of death duties.”

Green havens, home to countless species of wildlife, generous residential buildings and extensive farming land, are up for grabs for the first time.

Estate agents Knight Frank said: “There are extensive blocks of mixed mature woodland that run through the estate that attract an abundance of wildlife and have in the past supported a challenging pheasant and partridge shoot.

The estate stretches for almost 3,600 acres

“In addition are several ponds and lakes throughout the farmland including three reservoirs feeding the irrigation system.”

The Crown Estate, which currently owns the estate at Patshull, near Pattingham, decided to put it on the market following a review of its rural portfolio.

The plot – up for sale as a whole or in three lots – will include mixed woodland, ‘huge sporting and amenity opportunities’ and the potential for further development.

‘Fertile and productive’ land surrounding the historic woodland grows a range of crops from root vegetables to cereals, Knight Frank said.

The spacious three-storey Upper Pepperhill Farmhouse is also included in the sale, boasting five bedrooms on its top floor.

The Crown Estate manages the Queen’s portfolio of land and properties across the UK. The Patshull Estate does take in the Patshull Activity Centre and the Dartmouth Arms pub at Burnhill Green but these are not part of the sale.

While Patshull Hall and the Patsull Park Hotel, Golf and Country Club are not included in the sales plans as they are not owned by the Crown Estate.