An “outstanding” estate on the Suffolk/Cambridgeshire border is to be sold for the first time in 100 years.
The 1,776-acre Exning Estate near Newmarket is being offered up either as a whole or as 18 lots – with a guide price of a cool £50m.
It includes Landwade Hall among its 56 dwellings, a solar farm, equestrian enterprises and a mixture of farmland and woodland.
Agents Savills described the estate as “highly diverse”, with mainly let assets, including Rossdales equine hospital and two in-hand farming enterprises.
The principal house sits in mature parkland, with the estate lying next to the village of Exning.
In 1919 the property was purchased by shipping magnate William James Tatem, who was keen on horse racing and bred thoroughbreds. He founded the Atlantic Shipping & Trading Company and became Lord Glanely. He died in 1942, having won all five of the Classic horse races. As he had no surviving heir, the estate passed to the Gibson family.
Lord Glanely’s great nephew, Simon Gibson, the main owner of the estate, died in May 2021 and his possessions – the contents of Landwade Hall – went under the hammer at a Cheffins auction sale in September of last year.
The estate, which currently generates gross rental income of £1.6m a year, is available either as a going concern or as a sale of property assets.
The 8,000sq ft Landwade Hall – which is not listed – is set in established gardens and grounds including specimen trees, a walled garden, a lake and park.
The majority of properties on the estate are let on assured shorthold tenancies.
About 1,000 acres of arable land currently grows wheat, barley, oilseed rape and sugar beet – and there is also a 120-strong suckler beef herd run out of Landwade Farm.
The estate – which has on site storage for 2,750 tonnes of cereals with a further 600 tonnes available at Camgrain – is under a Higher Level Stewardship Scheme which ends in November 2023. There is also a mixed lowland shoot.
It is home to Rossdales equine hospital – one of the largest equine practice in Europe, three let studs and a DIY livery business. It also has industrial, retail and office space, and a 30-MW solar farm.
Nick Wingfield-Digby, director of Exning Estate Company, said: “The Exning Estate has evolved over time into the highly diverse rural-based business it is today. With the death of the highly respected and generous largest shareholder, Simon Gibson, it is the right time for a new owner to embark on the next chapter in its evolution.”
Savills rural agency director Alex Lawson said the sale was a rarity.
“Highly diversified single entity rural estates rarely come to the market. Exning is an excellent example of what can be achieved over time and we anticipate widespread interest. Its multiple sources of income provide a solid foundation for a new owner with potential to generate new income streams in the future,” he said.
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