Location
SOLD - ATTRACTIVE ROLLING FARM IN THE HEART OF ROXBURGHSHIRE
Old Graden is a highly attractive and productive mixed farm, peacefully located at the end of a private road, which is accessed off the B6352. The farmhouse, two cottages and the farm buildings lie in a sheltered location in a small valley, surrounded by farmland. The land is a blend of arable / grass leys, permanent pasture and woodlands. Each field is easily accessed either directly from the central farm track or branches from it.
The farm is equipped with a farm steading including a large cattle court, workshop, traditional range and a variety of outbuildings.
They have been well maintained and despite their current use have the potential for development, subject to obtaining the necessary planning consents.
The majority of the land is farmed under an annual grazing agreement with a local farmer for the purpose of grazing cattle and sheep. The winter grazing agreement will come to an end on 31 March 2024.
In addition, two field compartments (Fields 3 & 32) are let for the purpose of rearing game birds. The same tenant has an agreement to provide commercial shooting and keepering over Old Graden in conjunction with Cherrytrees Estate.
The shooting at Old Graden has been well designed, with drives producing exciting and challenging sport.
The current passing rent for the residential, agricultural and sporting aspects of the farm exceeds £45,000 per annum. There is potential for additional rent through the letting of Rose Cottage which is currently vacant.
Old Graden Farmhouse
The two-storey farmhouse with its south westerly aspect is located to the south of the farm steading looking down the valley. To the front there is a garden mainly laid to lawn bound by an established hedge, with a parking area adjacent and double detached garage. At the rear there is an attractive courtyard enclosed by traditional outbuildings. The outbuildings include kennels, boiler room, workshop and storage spaces. In addition, and to the southeast there is a modern building with six purpose built kennels.
Of traditional stone construction, the farmhouse is rendered and painted white, under a pitched slate roof, the house provides comfortable family accommodation as shown on the accompanying floorplan and photographs.
From the front door a generous hallway leads to a lounge (with wood burning stove), bedroom, and large dining kitchen with a red oil-fired AGA. Towards the back of the house is a small back porch, utility/boot room, small WC and games room which has its own access to the courtyard through sliding double doors. It has been used as a lunchroom on shoot days and features a large wood burning stove, exposed stone walls and timber beams.
The first floor includes three bedrooms, a large family bathroom and an office. The house benefits from double glazing, oil fired central heating and mains water.
It is currently let to a game keeper however vacant possession can be provided after 28 February 2024.
Honeysuckle Cottage and Rose Cottage
Honeysuckle and Rose Cottages together form a pair of semi-detached cottages located to the south of the farmhouse, to the side of the access road. The cottages are single storey, of traditional stone and slate construction. Externally the walls are rendered and painted white.
The accommodation of each cottage is almost symmetrical comprising a kitchen, sitting room, bathroom and two double bedrooms. Honeysuckle Cottage benefits from the addition of a sunroom and the use of a garage.
Externally each cottage has a small garden to the rear and a parking space either side. They benefit from oil fired central heating, mains water and double glazing.
Honeysuckle Cottage is let on a Private Residential Tenancy (PRT). Rose Cottage is currently vacant and has recently been refurbished.
Farm Buildings
The buildings are numbered as per the site plan, excluding the majority of the traditional buildings which are let with the farmhouse as aforementioned. The buildings are serviced by
three phase electricity and water, the approximate dimensions and construction of each building are as follows:
1. Workshop (13.7m x 8.9m) 3-bay steel frame shed with concrete floors, part brick walls, corrugated cladding and a fibre cement roof.
2. Traditional Shed (15m x 5.5m) Stone and slate construction. Currently used as a game bird hatchery.
3. Cattle court (41.8m x 27.3m) Large triple span cattle court with adjoining lean to. Part concrete frame, part steel portal frame, concrete floor, a combination of brick and blockwork walls, a combination of Yorkshire boarding and fibre cement cladding and fibre cement roof.
4. Storage shed (8.7m x 5.5m) Small storage shed with corrugated cladding and roofing.
Furthermore, there is a large area of hardstanding located to the north of the storage shed.
The workshop, traditional shed, grain silo, and lean-to (which forms part of the cattle court) are let for the purposes of rearing and wintering game birds together with Fields 3 and 32 until 31 March 2024.
The cattle court is let to the grazier under a licence to occupy for agricultural purposes until 28 February 2024.
The traditional range of farm buildings may have the potential to be converted for residential use, subject to the necessary planning consents. The Scottish Borders Council are generally supportive of the change of use of a building to residential providing that the Council is satisfied that it has architectural or historic merit, is capable of conversion and is physically suited for residential purposes.
Land
The land in total extends to 303 acres and is classified by the James Hutton Institute for Soil Research as Class 3(1), 4(1), 5(2) and 5(3). It sits between 130 metres and 225 metres above sea level and varies from gently sloping to steeper slopes. The soil type is mainly brown soils and is free draining.
The fields are largely well fenced with electric fencing. The majority of fields have water troughs, with the remainder having access to a natural supply.
The farm is best suited to the production of silage and grass, with the better land capable of growing a good range of cereal and fodder crops.
There is a SSSI known as Din Moss Hoselaw Loch covering a small area of the farm to the north (Field 24), extending to 12 acres. Din Moss is a nationally important geological site and includes one of the largest and most intact areas of raised bog in the Scottish Borders. In addition, Field 25, has basin peat soils. These areas may provide some future potential for carbon capture. The woodland on the farm is a mixture of coniferous shelter belts and deciduous plantations of varying ages.
The land can be analysed as follows:
Arable/Grass Leys - 193.41 acres
Permanent Pasture - 78.85 acres
Woodland - 22.54 acres
Other - 8.93 acres
TOTAL - 303.72 acres
Up to 38 acres, comprising three field compartments and a shelter belt, are available in addition via separate negotiation. This area is shaded yellow on the sale plan.
Sporting
The strategically planted woodlands coupled with the varied rolling topography provides challenging driven pheasants. The ponds provide excellent duck flighting and the land around Din Moss offers walked up snipe shooting.
At present the shooting across the farm is run in conjunction with the wider Cherrytrees Estate. Approximately 4,000 birds are released over the two properties allowing for 6-7 days shooting per season. The vendor would welcome the opportunity to lease the shooting rights back over Old Graden or enter a joint arrangement with a buyer.