A stunning residential, agricultural, sporting and amenity Estate with 9 miles of coastline forming the Mull of Kintyre.

HISTORICAL NOTE
Carskey Estate as it was then called was the property of the MacNeills of Carskey from the early 16th century until it was bought by James Boyd circa 1902. James Boyd and his wife Kate (daughter of Thomas Coats, Paisley) then set about upgrading the estate to suit their requirements and one of the first tasks was to employ an architect to design a new house as a replacement for a house that had been build in the 1880s. The Boyds came from Paisley and engaged J A Rennison from Paisley to design the house.

Construction is believed to have commenced in 1904 when a builder, Neil McArthur of Campbeltown, began work on the property. An insight into the quality of materials and craftsmanship that went into Carskiey House can be seen from the detailed accounts held within the house which list the work carried out. The house was completed circa 1910 when every comfort of the day had been installed.
The house was furnished by Whytock & Reid who supplied items such as the bookcases that can be seen in the house today.

The Boyds farmed the estate and a fascinating insight into the period can be seen from the detailed accounts recording all invoices paid and received. The accounts are housed in books in the study and are beautifully written documents. Mr Boyd, who had been ill for a number of years, died in May 1915 and his widow remained at Carskiey until her death in December 1928 when the estate passed to various family members until September 1948 when it was sold.

The estate was bought by the current owners’ family in 1964 and since then they have continued to use it for family gatherings while at the same time running the productive farm. The Mull of Kintyre has a fascinating history of which Carskiey Estate is a significant element. There is a booklet by Una A Robertson which details the building of Carskiey House and its subsequent occupancy by the Boyds and a copy is available for inspection at Carskiey House. The historical records relating to Carskiey House will be left for the buyers of the estate.

DESCRIPTION
Carskiey Estate is a residential, agricultural, sporting and amenity estate with a stunning Edwardian house in a superb location at its core, a range of houses and cottages, modern and traditional farm buildings, an in-hand stock farm along with shooting, stalking and fishing. The estate has a predominantly southerly aspect, over 9 miles of dramatic coastline and a climate that is cushioned by the Gulf Stream. Carskiey extends to about 7,362 acres and includes the Mull of Kintyre, one of Scotland’s renowned land masses which attained international recognition as a result of the Paul McCartney song.

Occupying the south western section of the Kintyre Peninsula and rising to an elevation of 1,400 ft above sea level, the views over the estate to nearby Sanda Island and Northern Ireland are one of its outstanding features.

CARSKIEY HOUSE
Occupying a private location above Carskey Bay, Carskiey House has been described as “a wonder of Edwardian design and engineering representing a high point in craftsmanship and building construction. It would be impossible to replicate today”.

Built for Mr and Mrs James Boyd in 1905 to a design by Paisley based architect, J A Rennison, the house is screened by a stone wall, mature trees and gardens. The principal drive, which requires upgrading, leads through stone gates across a bridge and through the gardens to a gravel area at the side and rear of the house. The drive is now overgrown and the main access is via a back drive but it would be relatively simple to reinstate the drive providing a dramatic approach to the house.

The house is built of stone with a dry dash, rough cast finish beneath a principally slate roof. The window surrounds, lintels and cills are of polished sandstone ashlar stones as are the crow stepped gables. Carskiey House was built to impress and the attention to detail and the quality of the materials that have gone into the construction is considerable. The slates have been secured with copper nails, the sash and case windows are constructed from teak, the flooring is oak and top quality pine while the bathroom fittings are a wonder to behold. One of the charms of Carskiey House is that it has been relatively untouched since it was built with the exception of being rewired in 1989. As a result, the house that can be seen today is as it was built for Mr and Mrs Boyd and is a blank canvas for a buyer to restore and bring up to twenty first century standards.

Carskiey House has been constructed to a grand design to impress visitors and guests. The double front doors open to a staircase rising beyond a gun room and cloakroom to the ground floor hall which leads into a magnificent reception hall with a superb stone staircase of elegant proportions. The reception hall has doors into the drawing room, dining room and library which has a door to a terrace with stone steps down to the garden. The current library was originally the entrance hall with the library being on the first floor to take advantage of the views. The bookcases from the first floor library have been repositioned at ground floor level, the rooms being of identical shape and size.

The rooms are typical of the period being large and well proportioned with fireplaces, cornicing, shutters and panelling. The principal bedrooms all face south to take advantage of the views and the former library is now a magnificent master bedroom. In total, there are 6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a dressing room and various maids’ rooms on the first floor.

On the second floor there is a large billiards room, a hydropathic bathroom which has a “ships deck” floor and a shower with hoses for fresh and salt water which is no longer in working order. In addition there are 3 bedrooms, a playroom, a bathroom, a dark room and a box room.

Adjoining the house at the north east is what was described as a servant’s wing. The wing is over two storeys and houses the kitchen, scullery, drying room, servant’s hall, butler’s pantry and usual domestic offices at ground floor level. On the first floor, there are 5 bedrooms, a box room, bathroom and WC. It is interesting to note that the servant’s quarters have also been completed to an extremely
high standard.

Below the principal house is a large cellar divided into a variety of store rooms.

HOUSES AND COTTAGES
There are 9 houses and cottages in varying states of repair and occupancy.

The Lodge
Situated beside the principal drive to Carskiey House there is an attractive harled Lodge cottage beneath a slate roof. The cottage has a range of outbuildings and a garden. The property is currently occupied by the retired farm manager and his wife.

Shore Cottage
Shore Cottage occupies a stunning location above the beach at Carskey Bay. It is of harled construction beneath a slate roof and is partly surrounded by a stone wall. The accommodation over a single storey comprises: Porch, living room, kitchen, 2 double bedrooms and a bathroom. To the north of the cottage is a large stone and slate built store that may have development potential. The cottage can only be reached by vehicle on fording the Strone Water. The cottage has been let as a holiday rental due to its location on Carskiey beach.

Manager’s House
The Manager’s House lies to the east of the traditional farm steading and is of harled construction beneath a slate roof with a timber extension to the rear. The house is surrounded by a garden principally down to grass and has a garage/store to the west. The house is occupied by the farm manager and his family under a service occupancy.

Garvalt Cottage
This property lies adjacent to the single track road leading to the Mull of Kintyre and has superb views to Sanda Island. The property is of harled construction beneath a shingle roof with a timber extension to the rear. The single storey accommodation comprises: Hall, sitting room, kitchen, 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. To the rear of the cottage is a steep garden rising to a stone building and wooded area. Garvalt Cottage is currently let under a Short Assured Tenancy agreement.

Strone Farmhouse
Strone Farmhouse occupies an isolated location at the end of a 3 mile track that leads into the heart of Strone Glen. The track is only passable by 4 wheel drive vehicle with care. The property was leased to the Ministry of Defence for training purposes until 2008. The farmhouse is of stone and slate construction and the accommodation which requires total refurbishment. There is no electricity supply to Strone Farmhouse, the last lighting having been gas powered. Adjoining Strone farmhouse to the east is a stone and slate building. To the rear of the farmhouse is a stone building with a corrugated roof.

Steading Cottage
This terraced cottage comprises part of the southern range of the traditional estate yard at Carskiey. The stone and slate, two storey accommodation, which was renovated in 2009, comprises: Hall, living room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms and a bathroom.. There is a small garden area to the front of the cottages. The Steading Cottage is occupied under a service occupancy by a farm worker.

Yard House
Adjoining Steading Cottage, Yard House is a stone and slate property that requires total refurbishment which when completed would be likely to comprise: Hall, sitting room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms and a bathroom There is a small garden area to the front of the cottage and the rear opens to a courtyard of buildings.

Kerra and Cheviot Cottages
Kerra and Cheviot Cottages lie between the traditional farm steading and the modern buildings adjacent to the Strone Water. The harled and slate properties have not been occupied for a number of years and require complete renovation. As currently laid out, the single storey accommodation in each property comprises: Hallway, sitting room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. To the front and rear of the cottages are grassy areas which could be developed into formal gardens.

THE LAND
Carskiey Estate extends to about 7,362 acres and the land varies from quality arable land at the eastern end of the estate to green hill, heather moorland and steep cliffs.

The majority of the agricultural activity is currently centred at the east end of the estate and the Strone Glen where the arable and silage fields are located. The low ground fields are in the main stock proof and are large enclosures suitable for modern machinery. The majority of the fields have benefited from regular applications of fertiliser, lime, dung and slurry along with a reseeding programme.

The Strone Glen is divided into a number of enclosures and there is an ongoing fencing programme to rationalise the enclosures and simplify the farming of the land. The Strone Water runs through the glen providing a natural water supply for livestock. Alongside parts of the Strone Water there are areas of natural regenerated woodland. There is a rough track leading from the quarry up Strone Glen to the farm buildings which is only passable by rugged 4 wheel drive vehicle with care.

To the north of the Strone Glen with access via a hardcore track is the hidden glen known as Glenadale which has green hill grazings with drifts of native woodland. There is also a tractor track leading from the east of Glenadale land through Low Glenadale to the public road. The Glenadale Water runs through the glen providing a natural source of water.

The land at the western end of the estate is principally heather moorland and green hill with rocky outcrops and cliffs where it adjoins the sea.

The land has been subject to a Rural Stewardship Scheme which was entered into in 2005. The main aspects of the scheme were a Moorland Management Plan, management of species rich grassland, dyke renovation and the enclosure of water margins. It is considered that Carskiey Estate would be suitable for many of the Agri environment schemes such as the Scottish Rural Development Programme which offer substantial opportunities to receive annual payments in return for a variety of management operations.

OUTBUILDINGS
To the east of the house is an enclosed courtyard with a curved run of storage sheds. The courtyard is reached via “yett” style gates in an archway. To the south west of the house adjacent to the drive is a former gymnasium now used for storage.

GARDENS
The gardens are a real feature of Carskiey House and are centred around the Green Walk which leads from the house down to Carskey Bay. The gardens which were once heavily cultivated are now principally down to lawns flanked by mature trees, rhododendrons, escallonia, fuchsias and shrubs. There are two octagonal doocots with pyramidal slated roofs standing to the south east and south west of the house. The south east doocot is believed to date from the late 18th century with the south west doocot being a recent copy.

FARMING
Carskiey Estate has an in-hand beef and sheep farm run by an experienced Farm Manager and based on a quality suckler cow beef herd, a low ground flock of ewes and a hill flock. A large acreage of silage is conserved for winter feed and a small acreage of spring barley is grown for feed and bedding. The farm is well served by modern farm buildings, vehicles and equipment.

The land which rises from sea level to 1,400 ft is principally south facing.

The suckler cow herd consists of 220 cows comprising Angus Cross (40), Blue Grey (30), Limousin Cross (20) and Charolais Cross (10). Approximately 55 of the herd is spring calving with the rest being autumn calving. Pedigreed Charolais bulls are used on the majority of the herd and pedigreed Limousin bulls are used on the heifers and some of the cows to provide suitable breeding herd replacements. The average calving percentage is over 90. The autumn and spring born calves are usually sold between July and October with about 80 of the spring born calves being taken through the winter and sold at 12 months. The estate has a reputation for providing high quality animals and much of the stock is sold privately to regular local buyers looking to maintain the Kintyre connection, whilst ‘Carskiey-bred’ stock is widely renowned and sought after by the main regional Auction Marts. This provides marketing choices and healthy market competition.

The cattle are over-wintered mostly in the buildings at Carskiey and fed with clamped silage using a forage wagon.

The sheep flock consists of around 1,270 ewes comprising 170 low ground greyface ewes (put to Suffolk tups) and 1,100 pure blackface hill ewes (of which 120 are put to Blue Leicester tups to provide greyface replacements, and the remainder to blackface tups). The blackface hill ewes lamb out on the hills. Most of the lambs are sold as store either privately off the estate or through the regional Auction Marts.

Numbers and management of the livestock and land, and the balance between numbers of cattle and sheep, are under regular review in order to optimise performance and also to ensure that eligibility for agricultural subsidies is fully maintained.

FARM BUILDINGS
Carskiey Estate is well served by a traditional and modern range of farm buildings.

Traditional Range
This courtyard of traditional courtyard buildings is set back from the road and is accessed by two roads. The buildings appear to have been built at the same time as the main house and mirror many of the property’s features. The buildings were created as the estate yard and designed for the horses and carriages of the day and are principally of stone and slate construction with more recent additions. A feature of the buildings are two vast doors which lead to the stables. The buildings are centred round a courtyard and comprise: Office, stables, stores, granary, barns, byre, cattle courts and a workshop. The Steading Cottage and Yard Cottage form part of the southern elevation of the building.

The modern buildings adjoining the traditional steading comprise:
General purpose shed/machinery shed: 4 bay steel portal frame;
Barn: lean-to structure with Yorkshire boarding;
Dutch Barn: 2 interlinked Dutch barns.

Middle Steading
Lying to the north of the courtyard, this single building comprises: Cattle Court (90’ x 87’): 6 bay portal frame building adjacent to a former traditionally built stable with a flat above.

Upper Steading
This complex of buildings is on a raised site and comprises: Cattle Court (80’ x 75’): 9 bay portal frame shed with central concreted area and cubicles on either side with slatted passages above underground storage tanks;

To the south of the building is a concreted feed area;

Lean-to covered handling area;

Silage Clamps: Capacity for approximately 1,800 tonnes;

Cattle Court (150’ x 80’): 10 bay portal frame shed constructed in 2004 with central feed passage with cubicles on either side with automatic scraper system and concreted store area at one end;

Slurry Store: Permastore slurry tank with 1100 cubic metre capacity.

The farm buildings have been well planned and allow all the cattle to be over wintered inside with the minimum use of straw due to the slurry system. The buildings allow for automated feeding reducing the labour costs on the farm. In addition to the principal farm buildings there are four sheep fanks across the estate with a large set of partly covered stone fanks at Strone beyond the farmhouse. There is a stone built store/former cottage at Kermenach on the track leading to Strone Farmhouse and another stone building on the road to the Mull at Glenmanuilt.

SINGLE FARM PAYMENT AND LESS FAVOURED AREA SUPPORT SUBSIDY
The estate owns 2,698.08 Standard Entitlement to Single Farm Payment at a unit value of €52.07 equating to a total of €140,489.02 (the payment in 2009 was circa £110,000). The SFP entitlement is available for sale to the purchaser at a separate and additional price. The farm is designated as having Less Favoured Area Status and, therefore, receives Less Favoured Area Support Subsidy (LFASS). The payment amounted to about £70,000 in 2009.

FORESTRY
There are 3 commercial timber plantations on Carskiey which total about 164 acres. In addition there are various areas of amenity woodland which add to the amenity of the estate. It is considered that there is substantial potential to increase the area of planting using current grant schemes to maximise income.

Borgadale Plantation (115 acres)
A plantation of Sitka spruce and lodgepole pine adjacent to the road leading to the Mull of Kintyre.

Kerra Plantation (45 acres)
A plantation of Sitka spruce on the northern side of the Strone Glen.

Well Field Plantation
A coniferous plantation to the west of the farm buildings.

Note: Due to the access road leading to the Mull of Kintyre there are extraction issues in relation to the Borgadale plantation.

There are no active woodland or forestry grant schemes producing annual payments in return for agreed operations neither are there any scheme applications pending on any part of Carskiey Estate.

RADIO MAST
There is a radio mast at Torr Mor. The ground for the mast is let to Airwave O2 Ltd on a lease that runs until 31 July 2026. The current rent is £5,375 per annum. The rent is reviewable every three years and the next review date is 2012.

SPORTINGS
The current owners have not exercised the sporting rights retaining Carskiey as a sanctuary for wildlife. However, there are red deer on the hill, roe deer on the low ground, goats on the cliffs, grouse on the moor and fishing on the Breackerie Water and Strone Burn.

Due to the topography of the estate, it would be possible by judicious placement of game crops and woodland plantations to create an exciting low ground shoot on Carskiey.

WILDLIFE
Carskiey is diverse in conservation and environmental terms due to the mixture of improved grazings, woodland, heather hill, moorland, rocky outcrops and cliffs. The estate attracts a huge variety of birdlife due to the varied topography and coastal location.

SITUATION
Carskiey Estate forms the Mull of Kintyre at the southern end of the Kintyre peninsula. The peninsula is situated on the dramatic Atlantic Seaboard and comprises a long arm of rolling countryside about 45 miles long and 8 miles wide.

The estate looks over the North Channel that separates mainland Scotland from Northern Ireland. On a clear day, the Antrim Hills of Northern Ireland and Rathlin Island are clearly visible to the south. To the south east across the Sound of Sanda there are panoramic views of the historic Sanda Island. From the cliffs at the western edge of the estate, it is possible to see the Isle of Islay in the north. The beautiful beaches on Carskiey and the nearby coastline are washed by the Gulf Stream which provides the peninsula with a temperate climate and encourages the wildlife that inhabits the steep rocky cliffs and moorland of the Mull of Kintyre.

Southend, 5 miles, has a primary school, doctor’s surgery, hotel with post office and internet café, shop, tea room and 18 hole golf course. Campbeltown, 11 miles, has an excellent range of shopping, leisure and recreational facilities along with a hospital and secondary school. The airport at Campbeltown has regular flights to Glasgow International Airport.

For the outdoor enthusiast, there is a wide range of opportunities in addition to those of Carskiey Estate. Machrihanish is famous for its links golf course and the adjoining Machrihanish Dunes golf course has recently opened to much acclaim. There is superb sailing on offer with Campbeltown Loch Marina providing a launch point for cruising on the Firth of Clyde and Loch Fyne, Islay, Jura, Mull and the Inner Hebrides. There is productive sea fishing from shore and boat locally.

The Kintyre Way path was completed in 2006 and stretches from Southend to Tarbet in the north, criss-crossing the peninsula for 89 miles. In addition, there are numerous walks and cycle paths in the countryside for which to enjoy the stunning scenery and wildlife.

Viewing
By appointment with the selling agents, Strutt & Parker LLP (Tel 0131 226 2500).