Monday, March 9, 2009

This English village is all yours for £22 million

London: Imagine settling down in your own village after retirement, spending time farming or watching a cricket match in your private stadium, and going for a stroll in the evening to buy necessary items from your personal shop.
Well, your imagination could turn into reality if you have some £22.5 million to spare, for an entire English village, complete with two blacksmiths, a shop and a cricket club, has been put up for sale for that amount.
2,000-acre estate Nestled in the rolling countryside of North Wessex Downs, the historic English village of Linkenholt with its 22 houses and cottages is part of a 2,000-acre estate which will go on the market later this month. Among the properties included for sale are a cricket pitch and pavilion, which doubles as the village hall, a large three-storey manor house, and a village shop, British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported. Also included in the sale are two properties from which agricultural blacksmiths operate, farming land, and an educational activity centre for children.
The only property in the village not owned by the estate is its church, St. Peters, which dates back to the 12th century but was rebuilt in 1871. The estate is currently owned by a charitable trust, set up by Herbert Blagrave, a keen cricketer, racehorse owner and trainer, who died more than 20 years ago.
Tina Abbott, one of the 40 inhabitants in the village, has been living there for 39 years. “We understand that whoever buys the estate will get everything, lock stock and barrel. It has got to be someone who will run it like it’s now.”