Many pagans dream of owning their own piece of land in the countryside - perhaps a bluebell wood or wildflower meadow, a field to grow produce or even a whole farm. For me that is particularly so at harvest time as we celebrate the gathering of the grain and fruit. From Lammas through to the Autumn Equinox, I always feel a wistful yearning to be a part of the cycle of nature that puts food on our plates, and beer and cider in our glasses.
But, I realised, it doesn’t have to be a dream. I came across a website that offers farm land for sale in the UK and I was astounded to realise that today you can buy an acre of land for between £5,500 and £10,000. That’s seriously not too bad – I reckon plenty of pagans have that sort of money sitting in a savings account where it isn't earning any interest. Yet UK farm land is apparently a good investment these days, whether you want to grow organic veg, rent it out or just have a private place for outdoor rituals.
Strutt and Parker are the people behind the farms and estates website I was browsing. The company even has a specialised farming department to advice prospective buyers on all sorts of payment issues and farming schemes as well as on tax and planning.
If owning a piece of ancient forest is more your kind of thing than farm land, Strutt and Parker are currently also listing 54 acres of beautiful woods near to London. According to the website it “hosts a large variety of tree species including mixed mature broadleafed species and newer plantations of coniferous species”.
The website goes on to say: “The area has been designated as ancient replanted woodland by Natural England which indicates that there has been woodland on this site since 1600 AD. The woodland therefore provides a wide range of habitats for plants and insects.”
How gorgeous!
The guide price is £325,000, which is more than I could get a mortgage for, but probably not out of the question if group of pagans tried to raise the money between them.
Do go and have a look at the website yourself – even if only to allow yourself a little harvest-time dreaming.
Links and previous related posts
farm land for sale uk
Woodland close to the urban fringe
Bake Your Own Bread for Lammas
Autumn Equinox
Outdoor rituals
1 comment:
I and my wife have looked at this site before, with a dream of owning "wild" land.
Sadly, finances means it has to remain a dream ... for now. For us, it has given us a goal to work for!
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