Entire British Village

Entire British village where time has stood still for 50 years goes up for sale - to the KINDEST bidder

© Provided by Mirror

An entire village is going under the hammer to the ‘kindest’ bidder.

When Eve Dawnay died five years ago, she left the perfectly preserved North Yorkshire village of West Heslerton to her family.

It came complete with a 21-bedroom historic hall, 42 houses, a pub and restaurant, a garage, a sports pavilion and playing fields and more than 2,000 acres of surrounding countryside.

Now the estate village near Malton is up for sale for £20million and her family is hoping to find a wealthy buyer who shares their wish to conserve the unique way of life.

The endearingly eccentric Oxford-educated spinster owned the whole village and, thanks to affordable rents and some clever social engineering, she ensured that it retained a vibrant community supporting a host of amenities, including a primary school and its own football, cricket and bowling teams.

“Miss Dawnay was a wonderful lady,” says Tom Watson, a director of Cundalls estate agency, which is handling the sale.

“She was very kind and the property rents are, and have always been, very low.

"This has helped keep a village community with a mixed group of ages and there are obviously a lot of people hoping that somebody with a similar benevolent nature will come along to take over the estate.

“It would be perfect for somebody wanting to build up and leave a legacy.

"The estate has been very much untouched in the past 50 years and is now a blank canvas ready to be shaped for the next generation.”

© Provided by Mirror

He expects a huge amount of interest from developers and investors keen to exploit the opportunities on offer.

“In many respects time has stood still in West Heslerton.

"There are now endless possibilities to convert buildings, develop plots and explore commercial opportunities,” Watson added.

© Provided by Mirror

“But I know that in an ideal world Miss Dawnay’s family would really like to see the estate carry on in a similar vein.”

The village has been owned by the Dawnay family for 150 years, after Eve Dawnay inherited it in 1964 on the death of her father.

She graduated from Oxford University with a BA in French in 1948 and worked in Paris and London before returning to Yorkshire.

As well as excelling academically, she was also a skilled craftswoman and made a collection of model rooms featuring miniature historical scenes.

© Provided by Mirror

When she died in December 2010, aged 84, there was no single heir and so the only realistic option for the beneficiaries was to sell.

Her younger sister Verena Elliott, who now lives in London, says: “It’s not the prettiest of villages.

"It wouldn’t go on the front of a chocolate box but my great grandfather, grandfather and father loved it.

“We all loved it and it would be very hard to find a village with more loyal and lovely people living in it. There is a real sense of community, which is hard to find these days.

“There are generations of families who have lived in the estate houses. In fact, there was a time when nobody ever seemed to move away.

“I can’t say strongly enough what the village and the people who have lived there meant to my family.

“The loyalty of those villagers has been tremendous. It will be strange to return and not be able to just wander around like I always have; that it will belong to somebody else.

"But times have changed, especially when it comes to farming, and it will be lovely to see new life breathed into the estate.”

© Provided by Mirror

At the centre of the estate is the 21-bedroom West Heslerton Hall.

It hasn’t been lived in for 30 years after Miss Dawnay moved to a smaller, purpose-built property.

© Provided by Mirror

The hall now offers the potential to be modernised or converted.

© Provided by Mirror

In addition to the hall, the sale includes Miss Dawnay’s four-bedroom home, 42 houses and cottages, a pub/restaurant, filling station/garage and a playing field and sports field with pavilion.

© Provided by Mirror

There are 2,116 acres of agricultural land, including 112 acres of woodland.

Source:- http://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/homeandproperty/entire-british-village-where-time-has-stood-still-for-50-years-goes-up-for-sale-to-the-kindest-bidder/ar-BBrj2ZB?li=BBoPOOl&ocid=ansmsnnews11