IT’S the most expensive property ever sold in this area.
Kirklees Estate has been listed for sale for £7m with top estate agents Strutt and Parker and Wilbys Chartered Surveyors.
The Clifton-based estate, set in 750 acres of land, comes with history ... including the reputed grave of Robin Hood.
The estate – which sits on the Kirklees and Calderdale border – includes the principal house with annexe, two traditional farmhouses with buildings, a farm manager’s house, cottages, extensive traditional buildings with development potential and vast woodland and gardens.
Previously the 10-bedroom Grade I Edgerton mansion Banney Royd was listed for £5m, but had dropped its price to £1.95m before it was sold last year.
And Kirklees Estate could bring riches to whoever buys it as around 50 hectares of land has been provisionally allocated as suitable for employment use at Cooper Bridge by Kirklees Council in the draft Local Development Framework.
Calderdale Council and English Heritage have also indicated initial support for a sympathetic conversion of the listed stone buildings of Kirklees Priory and Home Farm.
Estate agent Claire Whitfield said: “It is unique to bring a property to market like this both in its scale and in its location.
“It feels like an oasis in what is an intensely developed area just north of Huddersfield – a haven of tranquility – it really does feel like it’s own piece of green and pleasant land.
“As soon as you go through the gates down the tree-lined drive you could be in the middle of the countryside.
“There’s a beautiful principal house, but there are also other buildings which could easily be let by the nature of them and they could produce an income stream.”
Putting a value on Kirklees Estate was no easy task. Each lot has been valued individually and they were added up to generate the overall guide price.
And Claire says that despite being on the market just days, they’ve already had interest.
Within Kirklees Estate, Hartshead Hall is the only property in the Kirklees authority area. Priory Gardens, The Annexe, Home Farm, Kirklees Cottage and New Farmhouse all fall within the Calderdale authority area.
Among the 750 acres of land is Kirklees Deer Park, ancient woodland, agricultural land and its own croquet lawn.
Previously a Roman encampment, Kirklees Priory was constructed in 1135 by Reyner le Flemyng, the Lord of the Manor at the time. The Priory remained occupied until the dissolution of the monasteries and the remains of agricultural buildings belonging to the Priory and the Priory Gatehouse still stand.
The ecclesiastical origins of the buildings are still evident and the grave of one of the most prominent Kirklees prioresses, Elizabeth de Staynton, is sited a short distance from the buildings.
The Estate was bought by the Armytage family in 1565 who developed and invested in it.
It houses the reputed grave of Robin Hood and a short distance to the north west of Robin Hood’s Grave is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, the site of the original Norman encampment in Kirklees Park.
