Bowland Estate near Galashiels sold for £35m

One of the largest rural property deals in the UK this year has been completed just outside Galashiels in the Scottish Borders.

The 8,000-acre (3,200-ha) Bowland Estate, located in the Galawater Valley, has been sold for £35m making it the third largest country sale in Britain this year.

The estate is comprised of 23 residential properties, including the 16-bedroom Bowland House, a gate lodge, five garden cottages, and homes across six working farmsteads.

The estate had been owned by the Litchfield family since 1982 but was put on the market in June of last year after the family relocated.

Knight Frank, the estate agent handling the sale, said that the buyer was a British individual but could not release any more details.

At the centre of the estate is Bowland House, originally built as a hunting lodge for the Archbishop of St Andrews.

In the 19th Century, the property was remodelled by architect James Gillespie Graham, who incorporated elements of the original lodge into the castellated 16-bedroom mansion that stands today.

Surrounding the house are a series of traditional stone outbuildings, landscaped grounds and a restored walled garden, alongside cottages and estate infrastructure.

The wider estate features extensive agricultural buildings, livestock barns, traditional stone ranges, two shooting bothies and more than 4,400 acres of moorland, woodland, arable land and pasture.