Murton Grange estate up for sale

A SPORTING and commercial rural estate in North Yorkshire, owned by the family of the late entrepreneur Sir Tom Cowie, has hit the market with a guide price of £7m.

The 1,350 acre Murton Grange Estate at Hawnby is set within the Hambleton Hills and the North York Moors National Park. 

The farm includes a significant part of the Murton Grange shoot, which is considered to be one of the most prestigious and acclaimed high bird pheasant and partridge shoots, and is regularly cited as one of the top 50 shoots in the country.

The sporting rights are currently leased together with rights over adjoining third party land, but with the potential to take them back in hand.

The estate was formerly in the ownership of the late Sir Tom, who built The Cowie Group, now Arriva, up into a listed plc.

It has been put on the market by his family.

Marketed by Carter Jonas, the estate comprises more than 900 acres of arable land, 150 acres of grassland, 280 acres of woodland scrub, and dale, with buildings, yard and tracks making up the remainder.  

Also included are five residential properties including a principal farmhouse, two traditional semi-detached cottages, a bungalow currently used as a shoot lodge and a barn conversion, a range of farm buildings including a purpose built grain store and ancillary shoot buildings.

Sir Tom, a former chairman of Sunderland Football Club, bought the North Yorkshire shoot at Murton Grange from the Guthrie family in the late 1990s and developed it commercially. 

Dan Taylor, of Carter Jonas, said: “It is rare for an estate of this calibre to come to the market, especially when it includes a significant part of one of the most prestigious and renowned shoots in the country.

“Murton Grange provides a manageable investment for both agricultural and amenity purchasers. It is likely to be of interest to large scale commercial farmers, sportsmen and those from outside the region looking for a unique investment opportunity within the agricultural sector.”

The Murton Grange estate is for sale by private treaty.