Land for sale

CLOSING DATE SET FOR WEDNESDAY, 24 April 2024 AT 12 NOON.

SITUATION
Chesterhall is situated in an accessible position within rural South Lanarkshire just to the south of Tinto Hill, within easy reach of both Edinburgh and Glasgow. The popular village of Symington, located only 3 miles away, is home to the well-regarded Tinto Primary School and Nursery, and further benefits from a general store and Post Office, Church, village hall and sports ground which is home to Tinto FC and other sports clubs.

The popular town of Biggar 6.5 miles to the north east, is a thriving former market town in the Upper Clyde Valley, and boasts an excellent range of independent shops and other speciality retailers, cafes, restaurants and Biggar High School, which also houses the community sports centre. There is a health centre, two dental practices and two veterinary practices in the town. Biggar has an 18-hole golf course, a boating pond, tennis courts, bowling and rugby clubs.

The cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow are located approximately 35 miles to the north east and 40 miles north west respectively from the property and offer a wide range of amenities including retail centres, leisure and business facilities, and provide regular mainline railway connections and international airports.

Chesterhall benefits from direct access on to the A73 providing swift access to the surrounding settlements and other major A-class roads. The farm lies immediately to the south of Tinto Hill which is popular with hill walkers in the region, and the surrounding area offers a wider variety of outdoor pursuits including biking, pony trekking, shooting and fishing.

Agriculturally the area is well provided for by a number of merchants, suppliers and machinery dealers, with nearby Lanark Market (9.5 miles) providing an excellent outlet for high quality livestock which the surrounding area is renowned for producing. There are further livestock markets at Lockerbie (38 miles), Ayr (45miles) and Stirling (50 miles).

FARMING HISTORY
Chesterhall has been within the same ownership for almost 40 years. A significant investment has been made to the infrastructure of the holding over the years, with the holding currently run as a 600 sow rearing unit, with an excellent range of modern buildings catering for progeny from birth to approximately 30 kilos. The farmland comprises a mix of arable and grassland with the arable land farmed on a rotation of 2-3 years of spring barley with fodder rape as a break and potatoes have also been grown under contract in recent years. The grass leys are in good heart and have benefitted from regular application of pig manure generated on the holding, and a programme of re-seeding, fencing and drainage has been carried out during the current owner’s tenure.

DESCRIPTION
Chesterhall comprises an excellent pig and mixed arable unit all situated within a contiguous block to the north of the A73. The farmhouse and cottage and original steading buildings are situated in a group to the south of the holding with a further range of modern purpose-built but adaptable pig buildings located a short distance to the north east of the original farm steading.

The farmland at Chesterhall extends to approximately 124.86 Ha (308.53 Acres) in total and benefits from an excellent internal network of farm tracks which provide access to the most northerly and westerly enclosures. The holding is well suited to continuing as a pig farm, or the adaptable range of buildings would support a mixed arable and stock enterprise, with a well-balanced combination of ground ranging from low lying arable and silage fields to improved hill enclosures to the north of the farm providing good grazing. There are a number of woodland plantations providing shelter and amenity to the holding, and some areas of the farm may offer potential for further woodland creation subject to obtaining the required planting consents.

METHOD OF SALE
Chesterhall Farm is offered for sale as a whole.

CHESTERHALL FARMHOUSE
Chesterhall Farmhouse is located to the south of the holding and adjacent to the traditional farm steading. The farmhouse is of traditional stone construction set under a pitched slate roof and provides well proportioned accommodation over 2 levels. The farmhouse requires modernisation throughout but presents a unique opportunity to develop into a substantial family home. The accommodation and room dimensions are set out in more detail within the floor plans contained in these particulars.

Garden Ground
The farmhouse benefits from a small area of garden ground to the front of the property which is mostly laid to lawn with a larger garden area located to the rear of the property which is largely overgrown but provides an excellent opportunity to create a private and sheltered garden space.

Garage (11.8m x 4.95m)
Located a short distance to the west of the farmhouse and benefitting from a separate access road which leads to the farmhouse is a traditional 3 bay arched garage, of stone construction under a slate roof with an earth floor.

COTTAGE
Adjoining the farmhouse to the north there is a traditional cottage which is of stone construction and set under a slate roof. The property has recently been renovated to provide spacious accommodation over one floor. The accommodation and room dimensions are set out in more detail within the floor plans contained in these particulars.

FARM BUILDINGS
The farm is serviced by an extensive range of modern and traditional farm buildings which are separated into two principal sites, with the original traditional farm steading and modern store sheds located adjacent to the farmhouse, and a separate range of more modern pig buildings located a short distance to the north east of the farmhouse.

1. Traditional Farm Steading
Located to the north of the farmhouse and cottage, there is the reminder of the original traditional farm steading, comprising a range of adjoining stone-built buildings. The traditional buildings may present future opportunities for conversion and development to alternative use, subject to obtaining necessary planning consents. The approximate construction and dimensions of the farm buildings are as follows:

Workshop (17.1m x 4.3m + 8.45m x 5.21m)
Large workshop of traditional stone construction under a slate roof with a concrete floor, and secure vehicle and pedestrian doors.

Lean-to Store (23.59m x 3.62m)
Of timber frame construction under a slate roof with an earth and stone floor.

Kennels (12.89m x 4.99m)
Of traditional stone construction under a slate roof with a cobbled floor. There is a plumbed WC within this section of building.

Chemical Store (7.5m x 4.95m)
Of traditional stone construction under a slate roof with a concrete floor.

Former Mill (4.8m x 4.56m)
Of traditional stone construction under a slate roof with a concrete floor.

Former Byre (14.8m x 4.95m)
Of traditional stone construction under a slate roof with a concrete floor.

Loose Pen (8.9m x 6.3m)
Of traditional construction with stone and block walls under a slate roof with a concrete floor.

In addition to the traditional steading there are a number of more modern buildings comprising:

2. Mono-Pitch Store (7.26m x 4.29m)
Of timber frame construction with stone and brick walls under a tin roof with a stone floor and tin side cladding.

3. Hay Shed (36.7m x 16.5m)
Of steel portal frame construction under a tin roof with stone walls with an adjoining lean-to with part concrete and earth floor.

4. Sheep Shed (31.9m x 13.36m)
Of timber and steel portal frame construction under a tin roof and side cladding with an earth floor.

5. Mono-Pitch Store (18.3m x 5.98m)
Of timber frame construction under a tin roof and side cladding with an earth floor.

6. Implement Shed (8.79m x 6.78m)
Of timber frame construction under a tin roof and side cladding with an earth floor.

7. Former Silage Pit
Comprising concrete panels and a concrete floor, which is currently used for fodder bale storage.

There is large yard area to the north of the farm buildings and a redundant Grain Silo, small Feed Bin, Water Tank and bunded Diesel Tank.
Pig Rearing Unit

Located a short distance to the north east of the traditional steading complex there is the range of more modern pig buildings which are predominantly set up for the rearing and handling of pigs. The buildings are situated in close proximity to each other operating as a bio-secure closed off unit, enabling easy movement of pigs between the sheds and there is a purpose-built race and loading bay within the yard area to the front of the complex.

The buildings currently provide capacity for 600 sows plus followers and present a unique opportunity to either continue with the existing pig operations on the holding, or they would also offer the ability to adapt the structures and internal layout, to suit a mixed arable and stock enterprise.

The approximate construction and dimensions of the pig unit is as follows:

8. Staff/Shower Block (10.7m x 5.0m)
Block-built with a rendered wall finish under a tin roof with insulated false ceiling and double glazed PVC windows. The building comprises: 2 Changing Rooms, Shower Block, Store, WC and Staff Room.

9. Rearing Shed (67.04m x 21.62 GEA)
Of steel portal frame construction under a fibre cement roof with block walls and a concrete floor with a suspended slat floor, and box profile side cladding. The building was re-roofed approximately 4 years ago and is split into 15 rooms comprising:

4 x Farrowing houses with 26 crates/room
(renovated in 2022).
4 x Flatdeck rooms with raised slats and plastic partitioning stalls (renovated in 2022).
4 x Part follow-on rooms with raised plastic slats and partitions (renovated approximately 5 years ago).
3 x Full follow-on rooms with raised plastic slats and partitions (renovated approximately 5 years ago).

Pig Equipment
Please note that all slats, partitions, crates, feed equipment, 4 large feed bins and the existing incinerators will all be available to purchase in addition to the heritable by separate negotiation.

10. Triple-Span Sow Rearing Shed (52.00m x 42.73m GEA)
Of steel portal frame construction under a corrugated roof with block walls, concrete floor and box profile side cladding. The building forms a straw-based group sow housing shed, which is split into pens with capacity for approximately 30 pigs per pen. There is a 50kW Solar scheme on the roof providing an additional source of income.

11. Straw Shed (41.0m x 8.77m)
Of steel portal frame construction under a corrugated roof with an earth floor.

Yard Area
There is a large concrete apron and yard area which surrounds the modern buildings and provides space for manure and machinery storage.

Farmland
The farmland at Chesterhall extends to approximately 124.86 Ha (308.53 Acres) in total including roads, yards and buildings and extends north, east and west from the farm steading. The farmland is situated in a contiguous single block and benefits from an excellent level of internal access via internal farm tracks which lead to the pasture ground to the north and the arable fields to the west. This land is ideally suited to silage and arable production and the enclosures are all well laid out and can easily be worked by modern farm machinery.

The land has predominantly been classified as Grade 3 and 4 by the James Hutton Institute with the majority of the ploughable ground down to a mixed rotation of spring barley and rape, and occasionally let out for potatoes. Enclosures to the north of the holding are down to pasture and form part of the in-bye paddocks of Tinto Hill with a further area of pasture ground located in Field No.14. A detailed cropping schedule is contained at the end of this brochure.

The majority of the arable land is relatively free draining with a slight southerly aspect before rising to the steeper pasture ground to the north of the holding. The land ranges in height overall from 225m above sea level to 372m above sea level. The enclosures have all benefitted from a significant application of pig manure over the last four decades, and the farm currently carries approximately 300 wintered hoggs and finishes 500 lambs every year which are run in conjunction with the Seller’s larger sheep enterprise.

There are two principal areas of mature conifer woodland known as Heatheryhall and Blackwood plantations, with several smaller areas of mixed amenity woodland located adjacent to the farm steading and along some of the field margins to the west of farm, which provide an element of shelter and amenity.

EPC Rating = E