_Sutton Hall: The stunning Suffolk estate for sale offering huge opportunities for buyers

The big question I have for Sir Guy Quilter and his wife Lady Jenny Quilter when we sit down to chat about their home, the gorgeous Sutton Hall Estate, near Woodbridge in Suffolk, is why. Why sell such an amazing place?

There’s certainly no need for them to sell. Sir Guy, an ex-Irish Guards officer and successful investor, has the same acumen for business as his great, great grandfather Sir William Quilter who originally purchased the estate in the early 1900s and was one of the founders of the National Telephone Company, the forerunner of BT.

Could it be that they’re worried about the impact of Brexit on the 2,094-acre estate’s farming operation? Again, it’s an emphatic no. If anything, Sutton Hall is the type of agricultural business best placed to thrive once we leave the EU.

Since Sir Guy and Lady Quilter were thrown in at the deep end – “the farm manger retired the same day” – when they took on the responsibility of running the farm 26 years ago, they have created an enterprise that offers not only incredibly flexible cropping options, but also safeguards the farm’s most valuable asset: its well-drained soils.

Above: Sutton Hall Estate

The farm’s 1,430 acres of arable land all have access to an underground irrigation network installed in the late 1990s and based around two large reservoirs created at the same time at either end of the estate.

As well as cereals and potatoes, this allows high-value vegetable crops such as carrots, parsnips and onions to be grown, not to mention high-quality turf, “some of which was used at Wembley”, points out Sir Guy, proudly.

A contract sow-rearing operation is also rotated around the estate adding valuable organic matter to the soils. “Having so many cropping options means you can create a really diverse rotation that doesn’t put too much stress on the land,” says George Bramley, who is handling the sale on behalf of Knight Frank, in conjunction with local joint agent Landbridge.

In addition to the estate’s commercial cropping opportunities, there are 324 acres of pastureland and 235 acres of well-managed woodland – home to an excellent actively keepered family shoot – as well as areas of picturesque heathland and nature-rich marshland along almost three privately accessed miles of the banks of the river Deben.

All of these offer fantastic opportunities to benefit from the post-Brexit shift away from direct support for agriculture to the provision of eco-system services and public goods, says Philip Summers of Landbridge

Property portfolio 

And it’s not just the Sutton Hall estate’s diverse agricultural and environmental opportunities that generate sustainable income streams. Besides the stunning seven-bedroomed Georgian main house, there is an extensive residential property portfolio comprising three farmhouses and seven cottages. All are let under assured shorthold tenancies and have a combined annual rent roll of around £120,000.

“As the houses gradually became vacant as people moved on, we renovated them to a very high standard so they were homes where we’d be happy to live,” says Lady Quilter. “It’s helped to attract a really interesting mix of people who tend to stay for quite a long time, which is nice and has helped to enrich the local community.”

Between them the Quilters have created a remarkable property that combines its commercial and lifestyle sides in a way that is unusually harmonious,” says George.

So I come back to my original question, why leave this Suffolk paradise? “It wasn’t an easy decision, we do have so many happy memories,” admits Lady Quilter. “Guy proposed to me on the private quay by the river and our three boys have had amazing childhoods here.”

But, perhaps ironically, it was thinking about the future of the next generation of the family that led them to decide it was time to say goodbye. “With three sons it’s very difficult to be fair and we also didn’t want any of them to feel they had to take on the estate,” she explains.

“I did feel I had a duty to be here,” agrees Sir Guy. “You have to feel completely comfortable running a place like this because you can get it wrong very easily. History is littered with estates that have turned to dust within a generation.”

Above: The estate has a good mix of arable, pasture and amenity land

Another clue is a photograph of Sir Guy hanging on the kitchen wall. It shows him jubilant, but exhausted, arriving in Barbados having just rowed across the Atlantic with a friend. “I suppose I’m always looking for a new challenge,” he says.

“We feel very lucky to have had the opportunity and I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved, but it feels like we’ve done as much as we’re comfortable doing without changing the nature of the estate.”

What I wonder then is the next challenge for the family? In fact, as we’re chatting the phone rings with good news about exactly that.

“We’ve successfully exchanged on our new house, which we’ve bought through Knight Frank,” explains Lady Quilter. “It doesn’t have a lot of land, but it needs an awful lot of work doing to it so it’s going to be a really exciting project for us.”

Marriage value

Unsurprisingly, given its many attributes, the sale of the Sutton Hall Estate, which has a total guide price of around £32m, is going to be split into a number of lots, but the Quilters are hoping that it’s bought as whole. “It would be very nice if it could stay together,” says Lady Quilter.

George believes there is a strong likelihood their wish could be granted because of the marriage value of all the estate’s attributes that make the sum worth so much more than the individual parts. Although, as he points out, from a farming perspective the estate does split neatly in two.

Above: The estate has over three miles of private river frontage offering leisure and environmental opportunities

Whoever is lucky enough to be the next owner will be in an enviable position. The easiest option would be to relax and enjoy the fruits of the Quilters’ hard work, not least the combined annual income of £500,000 generated by all the estate’s activities, but the scale of Sutton Hall also offers lots of opportunities for anybody looking to write the next chapter of its history.

“The beauty is that you don’t need to do anything if you don’t want to,” says Mr Summers, who has been involved with the management of the property since 1982, but if you are looking for a challenge there is so much more you could do.”

From a residential perspective, there are a number of other buildings, including a large farmyard, with planning consent already granted or being applied for. While for those looking to create an even more diversified business, the environmental and agricultural opportunities are boundless.

“All in all, it’s a highly desirable and unique package,” agrees George “I feel very lucky to have been asked to help sell the estate. I come from Suffolk and I can’t think of anything else that is so diverse in this part of the world.

“People won’t find it difficult to find reasons why they want to buy the estate, the struggle will be answering the question why not,” he predicts.

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This article appears in 2018's The Rural Report - a unique guide to the issues that matter to landowners.

Download or read the Rural Report 2018