All bases covered in Derry
€1.3m is the asking price for a top quality beef and tillage farm with a residence and over 18,000sqft of livestock accommodation, reports Jim O’Brien
WITH the interminable talk about a hard and soft Brexit it is easy to forget that life goes on no matter what side of the border you are on.
The existing demarcation line is ‘soft’ and farmers at both sides have exactly the same struggles and farm under much the same conditions. Whatever the future holds, land on both sides of the divide will continue to be highly valued.
A fine 105ac residential farm overlooking Lough Foyle and across the water from the Inishowen Peninsula should attract buyers from far and wide.
The property includes a well-finished four-bedroom residence, an extensive range of modern shedding and 105ac of arable land with entitlements. The property is on the market by private treaty with offers accepted by Savills. It can be bought in two lots or as an entire with a guide price of €1.3m (£1.15m).
It is a mixed arable and livestock operation located at 44 Killylane, Eglinton, Co Derry, about 12km from the city with the regional airport just over 1km away.
The residence is a lovely two storey farmhouse extending to 2,409sqft. The accommodation includes a kitchen/dining room finished with lovely brick and woodwork, a drawing room and a spacious sun-room with great views out over Lough Foyle. The sleeping accommodation includes an ensuite master bedroom and three other bedrooms and a bathroom.
Out of doors the farmyard has its own entrance from the public road and is made up of a superb range of farm buildings extending to 18,370sqft with winter accommodation for up to 400 cattle.
Built in 2010 two cattle sheds face one another across a feeding passage. The steel portal frame constructions are laid out in 11 bays with corrugated iron roofs and supervent cladding. The sides are made up of block walls and underfoot are slatted with gathering tanks beneath.
A third cattle shed built in 2005 is in six bays and is of much the same construction except for Yorkshire boarding. It is part concrete and part slatted with a feed passage and feed barriers. The fourth cattle shed is now in four bays, similar in construction and make-up to the third and comes with a lean-to, cattle crush and chute.
The yard also includes three feed bins with a capacity of 32 tonnes, a secure store and a spacious concrete apron providing plenty of space for feed wagons and articulated trucks.
Arable ground
With 1km of road frontage the land is made up of fine arable ground and is located in an area renowned for the quality of the farmland.
Selling agents Savills say the locality has a reputation for productive, high quality ground set in a diverse landscape with the Sperrin Mountains to the south the sandy coastline to the north.
The climate is coastal and temperate with an average monthly rainfall of 39mm.
All in one block the holding is laid out in a range of fields divided by stock-proof fencing and serviced by internal farm roadways. Water is supplied from a mains supply and a local stream. Some of the land was rented to a tillage farmer in recent times with the remainder used for beef fattening.
The farm can be bought as an entire or in lots with one lot comprised of the house on its own site and guided at €284,000 (£250,000). The land extending to 104ac is guided at €1.022m (£900,000).
Commenting on the sale James Butler of Savills said: ”It is not only rare for a ring-fenced farm in excess of 100ac to come to the market in the county but also one which includes a comfortable house and an extensive range of modern farm buildings.
“Combining these factors with the versatility of the land is likely to result in interest coming from the local area and further afield.”