Shoot for sale: Urrard Estate, Perthshire

Features

• House of Urrard: Scottish mansion house with 4 reception rooms, large conservatory, 8 bedrooms, integrated 2-bedroom flat and additional living accommodation at the heart of extensive formal gardens and wooded policies with fine views of the surrounding hills
• An additional 7 houses and cottages
• A hill bothy and former dwelling with development potential in a beautiful setting with outstanding views
• Extensive range of outbuildings, including a modern office and stables with feed and tack storage and an enclosed manège
• Renowned high bird pheasant and partridge shoot
• Enjoyable walked-up grouse shooting and duck flighting
• Red deer stalking with a 5-year average of 18 stags. Roe and fallow deer stalking
• Salmon fishing on the River Garry with a 5-year average of 25 salmon/grilse
• About 124 acres of permanent pasture; 66 acres rough grazings; 62 acres enclosed woodland; 134 acres of open woodland;  1,975 acres hill ground and 29 acres of roads, buildings and miscellaneous land
• About 2,390 acres (967 ha) in total

For sale privately as a whole

Introduction

Situated close to the geographic centre of Scotland, in the heart of Highland Perthshire, Urrard Estate is a mixed sporting and residential estate with a historic setting. Lying on the east bank of the River Garry and extending east to the summit of Ben Vrackie, Urrard incorporates the site of the Battle of Killiecrankie – one of the earliest Jacobite skirmishes where John Graham of Claverhouse (better known as ‘Bonnie Dundee’) led a Jacobite force to victory over the Royal forces of William the Third. 

Today, Urrard has a reputation as one of the most accessible Highland sporting estates where it is possible to enjoy the rare combination of salmon fishing, grouse shooting, driven pheasant and partridge shooting, and red deer stalking on the same estate. Over the last five years, under the current owner’s management, the estate has developed its sporting reputation with the establishment of a truly sensational pheasant and partridge shoot which harnesses the landscape and contours to produce some of the most sporting driven gamebirds to be found anywhere in the British Isles. 

The quality of the sport is complemented by the elegance and comfort of Urrard House, which provides the owner with a much loved home whilst also enabling a shooting party of guests to be very comfortably accommodated. 

Location

Varying in altitude from about 433 metres above sea level in the valley of the River Garry to about 841 
metres at the summit of Ben Vrackie on the southern boundary of the hill ground, Urrard Estate lies on both sides of Glen Girnaig – a very pretty semi-wooded valley of a tributary of the River Garry. 

The Victorian spa town of Pitlochry is about 4 miles from Urrard and offers a range of services including a supermarket, three banks, a medical centre, two dentists and a High School. There is a range of independent shops, the highly regarded Festival Theatre, a choice of cafés and restaurants and two distilleries. Pitlochry has a mainline railway station with regular services to Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh, and a sleeper service to London, which also stops at Blair Atholl.

Passing through the estate, the  A9 trunk road provides excellent access from the property to the north and south.  

Perthshire has attracted field sports enthusiasts for generations. The River Tay is the longest of Scotland’s ‘big four’ salmon rivers and one of the most renowned salmon fisheries in the world. The region is also famous for grouse shooting and red deer stalking. Whilst Urrard offers both, there is also a wide variety of local estates offering sport to let – including driven grouse shooting – on both a daily and weekly basis. With its precipitous and majestic landscape, Perthshire is also renowned for its numerous spectacular pheasant and partridge shoots, with Urrard featuring comfortably amongst the best of them. 

Description

Urrard extends to about 2,390 acres and is a sporting and residential estate encompassing wonderful upland countryside of great variety and beauty. The undulating landscape provides the perfect base for an outstanding high bird pheasant and partridge shoot set against a backdrop of glorious scenery with many vantage points offering views throughout the central Highlands and as far south – on a clear day – as the southern uplands.

The estate is bounded by the River Garry and extends northwards through pasture and amenity woodland, the policies surrounding the main house and up through Glen Girnaig to the open heather hill beneath the summit of Ben Vrackie.

House of Urrard

The House of Urrard is a traditional Scots-Jacobean country house occupying a private and attractive east-facing position overlooking its extensive gardens of spacious lawns fringed by rhododendrons and azaleas. The house is approached by a private tree-lined driveway which leads through electric wrought-iron gates and continues uphill through attractive policies of brashed hardwoods and rhododendrons before terminating at a spacious gravel sweep in front of the house.

The house is category B-listed, of stone construction beneath pitched slate roofs and dates from 1831. Features of the architecture include a projecting curvilinear central gable with 2-leaf panelled timber front door with bipartite window above and dated armorial panel in the gablehead. Internally, the house has been comprehensively renovated and modernised within the last 15 years. Overseen by the well-regarded Perth-based firm, Harry Taylor & Company, the renovations included repairs and renewal of the plumbing and heating systems, internal reorganisation of some of the accommodation, installation of new fixtures and fittings and a thorough internal redecoration. The addition of a substantial conservatory adjoining the kitchen is a particular enhancement of the living accommodation. 

As a result of the renovation that has taken place, the House of Urrard is well suited to its current purpose of entertaining house parties and as a comfortable family home. 

The Estate Office

Situated just to the west (rear) of the house is a single storey detached building of stone construction under a pitched slate roof, which was built to serve as an estate office by the previous owners. Lying close to the office is a small outbuilding and kennel. 

Garden and Grounds

The house sits amid attractive and extensive gardens and wooded policies, bordered by azaleas and rhododendrons. The mature mixed policy woodland includes beech, fir, sycamore and oak trees. There is a small stream running through the garden with a pond. To the north of the house, there is an elevated southerly facing B-listed walled garden with a stone bothy and two renovated Victorian greenhouses. The extended woodlands lie beyond the policies and provide a private setting for the house.

Additional Houses and Cottages

Urrard Estate includes the following houses and cottages:

Gate Lodge - Situated beside the entrance to the estate, the Gate Lodge is a single storey traditional-style lodge cottage of stone and slate construction. Having been the subject of a programme of repairs and renovation in recent years, the accommodation includes sitting room/kitchen, conservatory and two bedrooms. 

With car parking space and an enclosed garden, the cottage is  let under a Short Assured  Tenancy (SAT). 

The White House -  Lying to the west of House of Urrard, the White House is an attractive, traditional two-storey stone and slate cottage. With an extension on the ground floor including UPVC French windows opening onto the garden, the accommodation includes sitting room, kitchen and two bedrooms. 

The cottage is currently offered for let as holiday accommodation on a weekly basis. 

Urrard Steading Cottages -  Also situated close to House of Urrard is an attractive range of former farm buildings, which has been converted as living accommodation. With five dwellings in total, the cottages  are in modernised condition arranged around a central gravel courtyard providing parking. 

Leekscriadan Cottage - With a magnificent setting in Glen Girnaig with outstanding southerly views, this is a derelict stone and slate cottage which has the potential for renovation or replacement, subject to the appropriate consent. Lying at about 1,233 feet (370 metres), Leekscriadan lies at the heart of the pheasant and partridge shoot and on the edge of the hill ground. It is accessed via the principal estate track, which leads for about 3 miles from the end of the minor public road on the north side of the A9. 

Loinmarstaig Bothy - Situated in Glen Girnaig at the end of the estate track, this is a traditional stone and slate, tworoom bothy with a majestic setting. In wind and watertight condition with recently installed timberframed windows, the bothy is used for picnicking and shooting/ stalking lunches.

Equestrian Facilities and Estate Buildings

Situated a short distance from both the House of Urrard and the steading cottages is a range of stables which comprises four looseboxes, a tack room and feed store. There is also an all-weather arena on the site of the former tennis court. 

Sporting

Providing the unusual combination of red and roe deer stalking, walked-up grouse shooting, a driven pheasant and partridge shoot and salmon fishing on a tributary of the River Tay, the sportings at Urrard are described as follows: 

Pheasant and Partridge Shoot - The beautiful setting and steep contours at Urrard, together with the application of the current owner’s expertise, have seen the development of a driven pheasant and partridge shoot at Urrard which has quickly established a reputation as being amongst one of Scotland’s best shoots. 

Consistently producing birds to test the skills of the most experienced of game shots, the owner’s personal enthusiasm for game shooting, together with his renowned hospitality, has ensured that many visiting shooting parties have reported that a day’s shooting at Urrard feels like a private invitation from the owner. Over five full seasons of running the shoot on a commercial basis, the combination of hospitality, quality of sport and accessibility has ensured that many teams of guns return each year following their initial Urrard day. 

The shoot has 20 named drives in total, including several which have particular notoriety for their ability to challenge the best of shots. These include “The Rock, Druids, Long Wood, Holy Island, Hail Mary, Friends and Family and The Point”. An informal year-to-year arrangement with the owner of the adjoining estate on the east side of Glen Girnaig has been particularly helpful and has contributed four of the 20 named drives. 

Under the current owner’s management, shoot days have typically produced bags of between 100 and 300 birds per day with dedicated partridge days in September followed by mixed pheasant/partridge days from October onwards. 

Grouse Shooting - With over 1,000 acres of open heather hill, Urrard has a population of grouse and there  are several remnant lines of butts which point to its historic status  as a driven moor. 

Under the careful management of the current owner the natural habitat for grouse has been significantly improved. Heather burning, vermin control and grit provision have enabled the owner to enjoy some walked-up grouse shooting in recent years.

Whilst they have been deliberately preserved, a feature of the  estate is a healthy population  of Blackgame.

Deer Stalking - The open hill at Urrard supports a population of red deer and the nature of the terrain provides for enjoyable stalking. The hill is stalked in a traditional manner and the current 5-year average (2013 to 2017) is 18 stags. In recent years, the owner has operated an informal hind culling policy, and has taken an average of 8 hinds a year off  the hill.

In addition to red deer, the significant extent of native woodland supports a population  of roe deer providing the opportunity for year-round  stalking of bucks or does. 

The estate is a member of the West Grampian Deer Management Group.

Salmon Fishings - The Salmon Fishings at Urrard extend to about half a mile of single (left) bank fishing on the River Garry. A very attractive part of the middle course of this well-known tributary of the River Tay, the river is fast flowing between deep pools and pots with the wooded banks of Killiecrankie gorge on either side. The named pools are the Urrard Pool, the Boat Pool and the Pot, with each being fishable in most heights of water. The fishings are enjoyed on an informal basis by the owner and his guests with day permits being sold from time to time. Fishing is predominantly by fly with the majority of fish having been returned to the river in  recent seasons.

Additional Sport - In addition to the sporting described above, there are three flight ponds which can be fed to provide exciting wild duck flighting. The open nature of the woodland and bracken banks in Glen Girnaig can attract good numbers of migratory woodcock in the winter months providing additional sport. 

Entry and Possession

The date of entry will be by mutual agreement with the vendors and the sale  will be subject to the existing residential leases. 

Guide Price - £5,000,000

Offers

Offers should be submitted in Scottish Legal Form to the  selling agents - Strutt & Parker. Prospective purchasers are advised to register their interest in writing with the selling agents following their inspection. 

Viewings

Viewings are strictly by appointment with the selling agents:

Strutt & Parker

Tel: 0131 226 2500

Email: robert.mcculloch@struttandparker.com  or william.dalrymple@struttandparker.com