Forest Farm, Nineveh Lane, Benenden, Cranbrook, Kent

Forest Farm is situated in the High Weald AONB on a quiet country lane. The property is in a rural location whilst retaining easy access to local facilities and amenities. Benenden, less than two miles away, has shops, a Post Office, public house, church, fire station, private hospital, primary school and is home to the prestigious Benenden School for Girls. Hawkhurst and Cranbrook, each 3 miles away provide a more comprehensive range of facilities. Extensive leisure opportunities exist with walking routes to Hawkhurst and Cranbrook and further walking, riding and cycling at nearby Sissinghurst Castle and Bedgebury and Hempsted Forests, sailing and fishing at Bewl Water and golf at Charthills, Dale Hill and Rye.

Forest Farm was once part of a larger dairy and livestock unit and now extends to approximately 81.94 acres. Views are far reaching to the east, south and west over the land and across the High Weald AONB. The property has a range of component parts which provide an incoming purchaser with the opportunity to live in a modern, well-appointed farmhouse with the potential for additional income from the cattery on top of the farming activities.

Harneck House is a brick finished Scanda-Hus design farmhouse occupying an elevated position overlooking the farm and valley. The house is of timber and part weatherboarded construction under a pitched and hipped clay tile roof and was built in 2009.

Outside, there are uncultivated gardens to the front, side and rear of the house with a patio. The access to the house is along a driveway leading westwards from the main farm drive. There is ample off-road parking on the gravel driveway.

The property is subject to an Agricultural Occupancy Condition. This means the occupier must be a person or persons solely or mainly employed, or last employed, in the locality in agriculture as defined in Section 336 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, or in Forestry, or a dependant of such a person residing with him or her, or a widow or widower of such a person.

In 2011, permission was granted for works in the roof space of Harneck House including the installation of dormer and velux windows to create an ancillary dwelling. The annex is also subject to an Agricultural Occupancy Condition OR may be used for holiday accommodation on the condition it is not to be occupied by person(s) continuously for a period of six weeks and shall not be reoccupied within three months of vacating the accommodation by the same person(s).

The buildings are located to the west of the access track in the centre of the holding. The original function of the buildings was to serve the former dairy herd. Planning consent (under 07/02937/FUL) for the cattery, which is licenced by the local authority, provides a diversified income for the farm. It is currently managed by a member of the vendors’ family and further information is available on request. The individual buildings comprise a Cattery with thirty-two purpose built timber framed cat pens, Former Dairy & Bottle Store, Cubicle House, Covered Cattle Yard & Former Parlour, Straw Barn, Lean-to Yard, Atcost Barn, Silage Clamp and Dutch Barn. Further details can be found within the Property Particulars.

The farmland surrounds the House, Buildings and Yards and extends in total to just over 80 acres. The higher land to the south slopes down into the valleys to the north and east. The land is currently all grass, with roughly half permanent pasture and the rest in a second year ley on the east side of the farm drive. The majority of the land is classified as Grade III on the Provisional Agricultural Land Classification for England. The soils fall under Soilscape 8, described as slightly acid loamy and clayey soils with impeded drainage of moderate to high fertility.

Access to the farm and Harneck House is over a farm track leading directly from Nineveh Lane to the north. “The Forest” and “The Old Barn” at the southern end of the farm drive do not form part of the sale and have access rights over the farm track.

Please see the Property Particulars for further details on accommodation, services, Basic Payment Scheme, tenure, maps & plans etc.