New laird for estate as Scottish company seals deal

A sprawling 800-acre estate in North Yorkshire which was first recorded in the Domesday Book provides a taste of country living in all its glory.

And now the Askham Richard estate on the outskirts of York has been snapped up in a multi-million pound purchase by a property firm based in Edinburgh.

All of the farms and residential properties that make up the estate were put on the market, complete with shooting rights to its 800 acres.

With a guide price of £6.5m, it presented a rare opportunity to buy two farms, 14 residential properties and 54 acres of woodland all at the same time.

Back at the turn of the 19th century, the estate had been purchased by the renowned Yorkshire architect John Carr, who retired there after a career in which he designed many of the region’s landmarks, including Harewood House.

But villagers are now hoping that a new chapter will unfold for the estate after Edinmore Properties Ltd tied up the deal on Friday last week.

The Scottish company’s managing director, Angus Crow, admitted yesterday the exact plans for the future of the estate had yet to be finalised.

But he said: “We have already had a lot of phone calls asking us what we are looking to do. It is not often you get the chance to purchase a whole country estate, and we will be looking at our options carefully.

“In terms of money, it might not be the largest property deal we have ever been involved in, but it is nonetheless a great opportunity for the company.

“We are very much at the beginning of the process, but the purchase will help secure the future of the buildings and the estate as a whole.”

One of York Council’s members, Chris Steward, grew up in Askham Richard, and his parents, David and June, still live in the village.

Councillor Steward, whose Rural West York ward includes Askham Richard, claimed the sale of the estate had not provoked controversy and had been welcomed by many villagers keen to see new investment.

He added: “It is a lovely place to live, it is a typical English village. It has a particularly special place in my heart as it is somewhere that I lived for 20 years of my life. The fact that the estate has been bought up will hopefully see investment in some of the properties, which can only be a good thing.

“While the exact plans for what is going to happen to the village have yet to be finalised, the sale will be the next step in its long history and hopefully will help protect the heritage.”

The estate was put on the market after a Cheshire-based family had decided to sell after purchasing it more than 40 years ago.

It was bought in 1971 by George Naden, an investor from Cheshire.

Her then owned it jointly with his wife, Amelia.

The couple’s two daughters inherited the collection of properties and land when their father died in 1997 and ran it together with their mother until her death in 2008.

The elder daughter June Paterson, 71, who lives in Trafford, Greater Manchester, put the estate up for sale following the death of her younger sister, Kathleen Dingle.

The sale was overseen by a law firm, Hill Dickinson, which was brought on board as one of the company’s partners has links to the Naden family dating back more than 20 years.

Jonathan Dover, who is based in Hill Dickinson’s Manchester offices, first worked with the Nadens in the 1980s as a trainee at another law firm, Alexander Tatham, which dealt with the purchase of the estate in 1971.

He said: “The sale of the Askham Richard estate has been a rare case for Hill Dickinson, and was as much of a unique opportunity now as it was 40 years ago.

“The sale of a village is undoubtedly sensitive, but we believe the deal reached has ensured the best possible outcome for the seller’s investment, residents and farmers on Askham Richard estate.”

However, the estate’s former main property, Askham Grange, is not part of the deal as it is now an open prison for women.

Former inmates serving the end of their sentences there have included Anne Darwin, the wife of back-from-the-dead canoeist, John, and Tracie Andrews, who was convicted in 1996 of killing her fiancé, Lee Harvey, after initially claiming he had been the victim of a road rage attack.

A property which has been included in the sale, called Park Cottage, is seen as a prime opportunity to create a four or five-bedroom country home in the centre of the estate.