AN extensive hill farm lying within the Yorkshire Dales National Park which has been in the same family for more than a century has just come on to the market for a guide price of £3.5 million.

High Birkwith Farm, near Horton in Ribblesdale, is a large hill sheep and suckler cattle farm with land spanning from Ribblesdale to Littondale.

It is available on the open market as a whole or in five lots, including a farmhouse, cottage and range of buildings, with moorland, meadow and pasture land broken down into various lots.

The sale is being handled by York-based estate agents Savills.

The firm’s Matthew Watson said: “The opportunity to purchase such an extensive farm in the Yorkshire Dales is very rare indeed.

“The farmstead, which stands at 900 feet above sea level, offers unspoilt views of all three of the Yorkshire peaks.

“The farming base is situated in High Birkwith and includes a four bedroom farmhouse, two bedroom cottage and an extensive range of both traditional and portal framed buildings.

“The holding has been expanded over the years by the Morphet family, who first moved to High Birkwith Farm in 1912 as tenants and have since acquired further land to create this extensive unit.

“The opportunity to purchase a viable hill sheep farm of this scale and quality is very rare and it is certainly one of the largest commercial hill units to come to the open market for many a year.”

The farm is more than 3,235 acres in its entirety, and has been offered for sale as a whole or in five individual lots. Mr Watson added that the holding is operated as part of a stewardship scheme and is registered under the Basic Payment Scheme.

The Morphet family first moved to High Birkwith Farm in 1912 as tenants whilst also running the neighbouring Nether Lodge Farm. The late Alexander Morphet, very well-known throughout the farming community, was born at High Birkwith in1925 and died there in 2016 at the age of 90.