Pieces of Wales up for sale

Most of the commons come with grazing rights

There is a rare chance to buy a little bit of Wales for anyone who wants just that.

Seven registered commons - one a site of special scientific interest - in mid Wales are up for grabs.

The Powis Castle Estate - famed for the redbrick castle and fine gardens near Welshpool - is selling the freehold of the commons, and another in Shropshire, after centuries of ownership.

In all around 380 acres of land spread around the Powys-Shropshire border near Welshpool, Newtown and Clun are up for sale - about a quarter of the total common land owned by the estate.

The commons range in size from 89 acres of grass, bracken and scrub woodland at Y Frochas near Welshpool to a tiny 0.34 acres of riverside woodland at Vention Corner, Kerry near Newtown.

It's an ideal opportunity for anyone who wants to buy a little piece of Wales Rob Hudson

One site - Mawnog Gwaunynog at Dolanog, near Welshpool is designated as a site of special scientific interest (SSI) because it is a rare example of wet woodland with associated flora.

Another - Rhos Fiddle at Clun in Shropshire - gets the label because it an excellent axample of 61 acres of traditional moorland.

But because it is just the freehold of the commons which is being sold, usage for any new owner would be limited.

"Some of them have sheep or cattle grazing or other common rights associated, so you could not go and develop them," said Rob Hudson, a partner with Morris, Marshall & Poole in Welshpool, the selling agents.

"You may be able to pitch a tent on it though,"

Powis Castle is selling the land after hundreds of years

"It's an ideal opportunity for anyone who wants to buy a little piece of Wales."

No guide price has been set on freeholds of the land, but the estate says all serious offers will be accepted.

Already offers range from £120 to £1000 an acre have been put forward.

Estates Land Agent Tom Till said Powis Castle had decided to sell off the land because of their distance from its other lands.

"They are parcels of off-lying land which we believe could be better managed by commoners, neighbours or conservation bodies who have a more direct interest in their future welfare," he said.