Ledgowan deer shooting estate on the market for Â£4.5m

The majestic Ledgowan Estate, in Ross-shire, boasts stunning scenery and covers 11,105 acres.

It is regarded as one of the most prestigious staking estates in the Scottish Highlands, with an average of 38 stags killed a year, over the last five years.

It also offers grouse shooting, rough shooting for mixed game, fishing for trout and pike on Loch a’ Chroisg and Loch Cnoc na Moine and other lochs, and a stretch of single bank fishing on the River Bran.The 19th century sporting estate, near Achnasheen in Wester Ross has been comprehensively modernised and now includes a beautifully renovated lodge, further accommodation, renewable energy income from a hydro-scheme and the potential for an extensive native and commercial conifer woodland establishment scheme.

The estate has been owned by many aristocratic figures over the years, including Sir Alexander Matheson MP, the Ross family built a new shooting lodge in 1904, and Lord Latymer of Coutts Bank, London, who bought it in 1927.

It remained in the Latymer family until 1946 when it was purchased by the MacDonald family from Cononbrae who sold it off in two lots in 1962; the new lodge to the Ritchie Hotel Company, which was run as the Ledgowan Hotel and the estate to the Ruggles-Brise family.

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In the seven years since the estate was bought, it has been remodelled, structurally improved and comprehensively renovated and redecorated. This includes the creation of six bedroom suites with en-suite bathrooms.

The owner has built an additional four-bedroom lodge which provides overflow accommodation or can be used to cater for smaller parties which do not require the use of the main lodge.

He has also transformed accessibility to the estate with a 10-mile network of new hill roads. This has significantly expanded the scope of the stalking and opened it up to those of all levels of physical fitness. This has enabled the estate to attract a premium rental income for stalking lettings, particularly from European clients.

A 1MW hydroelectricity generation scheme is operated by a specialist renewable energy company – Green Highland Renewables - under a 30-year lease from Ledgowan Estate. In the scheme’s first year, it generated approximately £36,000.

The owner has commissioned an ambitious scheme to protect and expand the remaining native birch woodland on the estate as well as planting more productive commercial conifer. This 458-hectare development, approved by Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS), would be self-financing through the Forestry Grant Scheme and would provide a new attractive annual income. It could also be adapted to suit the new owner’s objectives, subject to further approval from the FCS.

Robert McCulloch, head of estates sales for Strutt & Parker in Scotland, said: “Ledgowan is a magnificent example of a traditional sporting estate that has been adapted to meet the needs of the 21st century sporting consumer.

“Whilst its setting and landscape offers the best of the west Highlands, its accessibility and quality of services and facilities set it apart from many of its ilk.”

The estate is for sale as a whole or in two lots. For further information, please contact Strutt & Parker’s Edinburgh office on 0131 226 2500.