By Julian Whittle

Last updated at 15:45, Wednesday, 22 October 2008

The credit crunch has hit the sale of the historic Crofton Hall Estate, near Thursby.

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It was expected to bring £1.58m at auction yesterday.

But one of the six lots failed to reach its reserve while the others brought £885,000 in total, £295,000 less than the guide price.

Cumbria County Council ordered the sale after a property review declared the 140-acre estate, off the A595 near Thursby, as “surplus to requirement”.

Sean Reed, the council’s head of property and asset management, was far from disappointed with the outcome.

He said: “In view of the current economic climate, I’m absolutely delighted. We have sold five out of six lots and we’re very pleased with that.”

The most valuable lot – a 25.5-acre parcel made up of the three-bedroomed farmhouse, outbuildings, a former land-settlement depot and agricultural land – brought £390,000, £300,000 below its guide price.

The buyer is understood to be a local businessman.

Three parcels of agricultural land went to farmers John Swainson of How End, Thursby, Frank Taylor of Whinnow, and Ian Donaldson, of Crofton, for £220,000, £207,000 and £28,000 respectively.

The 19.5-acre Torkin Wood was sold to John Osborne, of Wigton, for £40,000.

The one lot that failed to sell comprised the Grade II-listed entrance arch, former stable block, subterranean ice house, cheese farm and coach house.

This brought a bid of £160,000, well short of the £400,000 guide price.

Mr Reed said: “We will retain an income from that. We’re not going to sell it cheap. We will continue to be the landlord and will talk to the person who made the [£160,000] bid. We can hang onto it until market conditions improve.”

Agricultural consultant Andrew Wright, who successfully bid for the farmhouse on behalf of a client, says land values are holding up through the credit crunch but property prices are not.

He said: “Land values, as we’ve seen, are still very good. The difficulty is with the property market and development market. It’s difficult to value property at the moment.”

Just under 100 people attended the auction at Cumbria County Council’s offices in Carlisle, although only a handful made bids.

Auctioneer Alan Jackson, of Capita Symonds, said: “This is a rare opportunity to acquire part of an historic estate with some of the original estate buildings.”

Crofton Hall Estate dates from the 13th century.

The county council bought it from the Ministry of Agriculture in 1974.

The cabinet agreed the sale of Crofton Lake to Carlisle and District Coarse Angling Club for £30,000 ahead of the auction. Anglers have managed the lake for 16 years.

First published at 11:43, Wednesday, 22 October 2008
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk