907
THE ESTATES GAZETTE
May 27, 1899.
A
Country
House.
freehold shop property, Nos. 249 and 251 Liverpool-road, Islington, let at £40 a year, fetched £1,210, at the same auction.
Wednesday.
Chislehurst is quite a favourite residential locality, and houses in that district are usually in great demand. On the summit of Summerhill, within a few minutes’ walk of the station, and on the verge of one of the most beautiful commons in Kent, stands Cromlix, a very attractive freehold house, with about four acres of pleasure grounds, gardens, and paddock. For many years it was occupied by the late Mr. Christopher Oakley, of the old-established firm of Daniel Smith, Son and Oakley, and it was by order of the deceased gentleman’s executors that his son, Mr. J. H. Oakley, submitted the property to auction this afternoon. The house, which is built of red brick with stone dressings, is approached by a carriage drive. The accommodation is all that could be desired in a residence of this character. On the ground floor is a recessed porch, vestibule and spacious hall, a handsome principal staircase, double drawing rooms, opening through French casement to a wide verandah extending the whole length of the house, dining room, billiard room, library, and domestic offices. On the first floor, opening from the gallery and corridor, are about eight bed rooms, with dressing rooms, bath rooms, etc. ; on the second floor are the servants’ bed rooms. There is stabling adjoining. The pleasure grounds include a large lawn with shrubs and trees, also tennis-lawn for three full-sized courts ; there are two kitchen-gardens and paddock, also double vinery, conservatory, etc. It was generally expected that such a desirable residence, with the advantage of being within easy reach of the City, would soon be purchased, but at the close of the auction it was left unsold, the highest bid being £8,700. Another property offered by Messrs. Daniel Smith, Son and Oakley, consisted of a freehold warehouse, No. 48, Upper Thames-street, let on repairing lease at £250 per annum ; it was withdrawn at £4,400.
Mr. Thomas Sharp (Messrs. G. E. Curtis and Sharp) received numerous offers for a number of freehold properties at Barking and Plaistow, all of which were sold. Three shops in the Broadway, Barking, let at a total rental of £48 per annum, realised £1,285, whilst a freehold residence, known as Northbury, No. 1, Tanner-street, in the same district, fetched £1,150. Mr. H. Bloss Taylor (Messrs. Browett and Taylor) was responsible for the disposal of a villa residence in Clock-tower-road, Beckenham, let at £84 per annum, and held on 1 a long lease at a ground rent of £7, for £830; a leasehold house in Osborne-road, Finsbury-park, of the estimated rental 1 value of £40 per annum, 79 years unex-p:red, ground rent £7, for £430; a similar
Freeholds
at
Barking.
jVIems from the |VIart
Tuesday.
Business was resumed to-Brandon ¿jay after the Whitsuntide Suffolk. holiday, and was generally very slow. There was not much to attract the small investor, and very few of the regular habitués of the Mart put in an appearance. Dodging about the various rooms, it is not often that one comes across so small an audience as that which confronted Mr. Henry Lumley (Messrs. E. and H. Lumley), who had come to offer the freehold town mansion, No. 15, Palace-gate, Kensington. There were not more than three individuals in the room when Mr. Lumley entered the rostrum, and no doubt it was this paucity of numbers which led Mr. Lumley to express a hope that the gentlemen before him were “ millionaires in disguise” ; but apparently this was not so, for the property was not sold. A residential aud sporting property of some importance, viz., Brandon Park, Suffolk, was in the hands of Mr. T. H. Osborn (Messrs. Osborn and Mercer). It covers an area of 2,788 acres, lying in the valley of the Little Ouse, and was described as constituting “ one of the finest sporting estates in the eastern couniies, being surrounded by strictly preserved estates of the first importance, and consisting for the greater part of rough pasture, woodland, broom, gorse, young plantations, etc.” In the mansion house is to be found all the necessary accommodation, including entrance hall, drawing and dining rooms, billiard room, study, and eleven principal bed and dressing rooms. The mansion is surrounded by pleasure gardens, lawns, and a timbered park of the finest description. The property was offered principally as a sporting estate, it being mentioned that between 3,000 and 4,000 pheasants were now being reared thereon. Mr. Osborn, in introducing the estate, told the company that shooting could be let for the coming season at £1,500, an offer of this amount having been received. He also stated that since the vendor came into possession no less than £40,000 had been expended upon improvements. The purchaser was required to take by valuation, and pay, in addition to the purchase money, for the pheasants, tenants’ fixtures and fittings, etc. Only one or two bids were forthcoming, and the estate was withdrawn at £81,500. It was mentioned that an offer of £50,000 for the property, including everything, had been declined. There was no offer for Little Silver, South Devon, a small residential estate of 56 acres. Three seven or eight-roomed residences in Maitland-park-road, Haver-stock-hill, let at £88 and £40 per annum each, and held on lease for an unexpired term of 53 years, at a ground rent of £4 each, were sold by Mr. Vine (Messrs. Rutley, Son and Vine) for £945 ; whilst a
acres. The pasture land situate round the present ) spring head, where the hills fell steeply, the pit of which formed a natural basin, was a cool and sheltered position for the cattle, and was of special value to the farm and estate. The access from the eastern part of the down to the drinking place would be cut off, separating one part of the estate from the other.
Mr. Walter Hunter, C.E., of Victoria-street, S.W., said the land contained water which would add at least 50 per cent to the normal value of the land.
Mr. Percy O. Burton, steward to the Weld Estate, gave evidence as to certain roads, and also stated that a large allowance would have to be made in the rent of the farm by reason of the loss the tenant would sustain through taking the land and cottage. Applications for building land had been! made at hi® office.
״For the company, Mr. Henry Duke, Ii’.S.I. (Messrs. H.” Duke and Son, Dorchester), said he valued the land as it stood at the present time, fromi an agricultural point of view, and׳ put the spring head land at an. average of 15s, per acre, although a portion had no feeding1 value ;this at 5 per cent, gave £66 5s., to which he added 10 per cent., and £4 for four elm trees, making £76 17s. 6d. ; he allowed £2 15s. for altering the drift way, giving similar access as before, and. put the! cottage at 2s. per we׳ek and twelve years’ purchase, less deductions for insurance and repairs, and 18 perches of land at 18s. and. 3 per cent., together £89 3s. ; Courbfield i acre of meadow land, at £4 per acre, annual rental 22s. at 3 per cent., £36 13s. 4d., plus■ 10 per cent. ; total £209 2s. 3d. He did not consider there was any severance damage.
Mr. George Edward Richards, F.S. I. (Messrs. Henry Bichard® and Son, St. John’s-hill, Wim-borne), said lie valued׳ the spring head land׳ as down pasture land at £1 per acre, or £2 13s. a year and 30 years’ purchase, giving £79 10s. ; elm trees at £3; cost of re-erecting fence for the drift way £5 ; cottage׳ and land, value based on the rent paid, £22 10s. ; Court field, £4 per acre, 22s. per annum, and 30 years’ purchase £33; total £183; add 10 per cent., £18 6s. ; total £201 6s He allowed nothing for severance, and said the farmer could get along the company’s wall around the head! of the reservoir.
Mr. George B. Crickmay, F.S.I., F.B.I.B.A., of 13, Victoria-street, S.W., and Weymouth, agent for Sir Frederick Johnson’s Weymouth estate, said he was joint manager with his son of the company’s waterworks. He valued the land around the spring bottom at £50 per acre, which for 2a. 2r. 24p. gave £132 10s׳. ; Court field, Ir. 4p., £70 per acre, £19 5s. ; cottage and land, £110 ; together, £261 15s׳. : add 10 per cent,, total £287 17s., which was extremely liberal. He should he perfectly satisfied with that sum if he were the owner.
Mr. Duke : I would not say that (laughter).
Witness said h׳e could see no damage by severance, and the land at one point sloped like the roof o׳f a house. The company acquired the land to prevent pollution of the water by cattle.
Mr. Duke said the cattle would be able to come׳ from the downs and lie down much the same as before. The question of dwellings on a hill side as steep as the roof of a house was not worth discussing.
Mr. Chitty said the land׳ was a nice sheltered spot in which the cattle could collect at seasonable times, which was proved by the fact that the company wanted this land because of the cattle going there.
The Umpire reserved his award.
COMPENSATION CLAIM.
THE WELD ESTATE, PBESTON, NEAB WEYMOUTH.
Mr. James Green, F.S.I. (Messrs. Weatherall and Green, 22, Chancery-lane, W.O.), heard evidence as Umpire in the case of “Weld v. Weymouth Waterworks Company,” at the West-minster Palace Hotel, on Thursday, relating to the acquisition of about three acres of land and cottage from the North Down Farm at Preston, near Weymouth.
Mr. John Edward Tory, E.S.I., of Dorchester, Dorset and Yeovil, Somerset, acted as arbitrator for the claimant ; and Mr. Eaton, civil engineer, of Victoria-Eitreet, for the water company.
Mr. Herbert Chitty (instructed by Messrs. Eland, Nettleship andButt, 4, Trafalgar-square) represented the claimant ; and Mr. H. E. Duke, Q.C. (instructed by Messrs. King, Wigg and Co., 11, Queen Victoria-street, E.C., and Messrs. Andrews, Barrett and Andrews, Weymouth), appeared for the company.
Mr.׳ Herbert Chitty, in opening, said the Weld Estate at Preston extended to 2,000 acres, mainly agricultural land, but owing to^ its proximity to Weymouth, commencing within 200 yards of the borough boundary, and extending from % miles of ■the town, it had become a pleasure resort of people from Weymouth, and was likely at no distant date to be of greater value as'building land. It included North Down Farm, in the occupation of Mr. Macey, a farmer, and the piece of property acquired surrounded the head of the river Jordan, where a sprino- issued out, from which Weymouth was supplied with water. In 1860 the company acquired a small portion around the same spring head, and now they wanted a larger area. The conformation of the land was such that the land at the Riprinsc head formed a ״pit• of a theatre, and round it were ■hills of very steep gradient. This land was a cool place in summer, and a protection for the cattle driven off the hills and downs. The deviation! of access would be a serious matter in future. _ Considerable damage wa׳s ׳also sustained by taking the land from the middle of so large and important property, and valuable water rights lav under it. Some meadow land and a cottage were also taken, and the latter ought to be reinstated.
Mr. Baird! S. Ellis, F.S.I. (of Messrs. Fare-brother, Ellis and Co., 29, Fleet-street, E.C.), said the estate was a compact block of property. In arriving at the value, he considered he was not justified in looking at the land altogether from an agricultural point, of view, there being rnanv other features, which ought to he considered. amongst them being the taking this land from the centre of a large estate, causing serious severance, the water underlying the land was also a considerable element of value. The cottage was essential to let with the farm, and this was a case in which the principle of reinstatement should anply. He had considerable experience in dealing with such cases, and should verv reluetantlv advise an owner to sell land out of the heart of his estate in this manner, even at high prices. His figures were: —
£2 000 R0 320
2,400
240
2a. 2r. 24n.
Meadow land lr. 4d. Cottage and garden 18p. • •
Add 10 per cent...
Total ..	.. £2.640
Mr. Ellis said that Preston was a favourite resort for visitors from Weymouth. North Down Farm covered 530 acres, and was let at £655 per year. The downs extended to 140
Price 12s. 6d., for Cash with Order, 10s. 6d.
TION:
CROWN 8VO, 640 pp.
PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE
COM
BY
H. C. :RICHARDS, ESQ.. Q.C. M.D
AND
J. P. H. SOPEB, Esq., B.A., LL.B. (of Lincoln’s bin, Barrister-at-Law.)
This work,	in	which the subject of	Compensation Claims is fully dealt with in	a concise	and practical	manner! is	in
every respect	a thoroughly reliable guide and work of	reference	issued at
A PRICE WITHIN REACH OF ALL.
SHORT SYNOPSIS:
Origin and History of Compensation Cases ; Parties and Subject Matter in Compensation Claims ; Voluntary and Compulsory Sales ; Notice to Treat ; Principles	of Compensation ; Preparation of	Claims ; Assessment by Justices, Surveyors, Arbitrators	and Juries ;	Payment of	Compensation	into Court
Compensation for Varieties of Interest and Tenure in Land ; Compensation under particular Acts of	Parliament,
TOGETHER WITH
under the Lands Clauses Acts, and the Text of important Statutes ; also an
Precedents
for use
INDEX REFERENCE TO ALL COMPENSATION CLAIMS
Heard and disposed of at the Surveyors’ Institution, the London Sheriffs’ Court, and various important Provincial Centres since 1885.
FRANK P. WILSON, “Estates Gazette” Office, 6, St. Bride Street, London, E.C.