Hundreds of unwanted items from Alan Carr’s castle in the Scottish Borders were sold at the weekend
Hundreds of unwanted items from Alan Carr’s castle in the Scottish Borders were sold at the weekend
Comedian Alan Carr is set to keep the only lot which failed to sell at an auction of unwanted items from his recently purchased Scottish castle – a concrete cow sculpture.
It was revealed in February that the Celebrity Traitors winner had bought Ayton Castle in the Scottish Borders.
Hundreds of “residual” contents – unwanted by both Carr and the former owners – were sold at auction on Sunday.
But auctioneer Jim Railton said the cow – part of a wider collection of sculptures – had failed to find a bidder and the comedian was set to keep it as a memento.
The concrete cow – part of a wider collection – was the only lot which went unsold
The concrete cow – part of a wider collection – was the only lot which went unsold
The auction took place at Ayton Castle on Sunday after viewings on Friday and Saturday.
It contained a huge range of items including furniture, paintings and textiles.
The top price on the day was £24,000 for a five-seater Bentley Mulsanne.
However, among the highlights were the lots containing the Northumberland folk art creations from the Branxton Cement Menagerie.
They were created by a retired joiner in the 1960s to entertain his disabled son but grew to a huge collection and became a “much-loved visitor attraction”.
It was sold and relocated to Ayton Castle in 2021 but its pieces have now been auctioned off to the highest bidder – apart from the cow which Carr is set to keep.
Jim Railton, of Railtons Auctioneers, said it had been a “very busy day”.
“Seven-and-a-half hours of selling non-stop and we only had one item that was unsold, which is quite a good record,” he said.
The Branxton animals fetched about £28,000 at the auction
The Branxton animals fetched about £28,000 at the auction
He confirmed that the item which could not find a buyer had been the cow from the Branxton Menagerie.
“For some reason we couldn’t get a bid for it,” he said.
“So Alan Carr, who has bought the castle, is going to keep it as an ornament or a memory of all the animals that were at Branxton and then went to Ayton.
“He’s going to keep the one cow and enjoy it as a memory of the Branxton animals that resided there for a little while.”
Carr bought Ayton Castle in the Scottish Borders earlier this year
Carr bought Ayton Castle in the Scottish Borders earlier this year
Railton said that the sculptures had made about £28,000 overall
“I was quite pleased with the Branxton animals because that was a bit of an unknown quantity, how well they’d do,” he said.
“But it seemed to have taken off and it sold well.”
Overall, he said the sale should produce about £100,000 which would go to the owners who sold the castle to Carr.
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