Victorian railway carriage at Birkin House near Dorchester up for auction

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Dorset Echo:

Contents of Birkin House near Dorchester up for auction


The late Victorian railway carriage at Birkin House

A late Victorian railway carriage hidden in the garden will be amongst the interesting items on offer when the contents of Birkin House go up for sale later this month. Dukes of Dorchester is auctioning off the contents of the house at Stinsford near Dorchester with a sale at the premises on November 26.

The house had been run as an upmarket wedding venue and accommodation for a number of years and therefore has a range of grand furniture and other interesting items that will be going under the hammer. They include a number of four poster beds, garden ornaments and a range of catering quality kitchen appliances.

One of the most intriguing items is the late Victorian railway carriage, which is made of teak and is in quite good condition considering it appears to be hiding in the hedge that surrounds it.

The 48-foot carriage retains some of the original light fittings and door handles as well as some windows etched with the word ^smoking^ to identify the compartments where smoking was permitted.

The exact origin of the carriage is not clear as it was purchased by a previous owner of Birkin House who was a keen railway enthusiast and in recent years it has been used as an unusual garden shed.

Duke^s auctioneer Matthew Denney said: ^Railway carriages of this type may not be the easiest of items to accommodate, but for the enthusiast this offers a rare opportunity to purchase such an item.

^Although the carriage seems a little dilapidated it is surprisingly sound in many respects and it may well be possible for someone with the appropriate skills and the necessary desire to restore it to something like its original condition.

^The new owner will of course require sufficient land to house the carriage and perhaps a tolerant partner as well. It is difficult to estimate the likely value of this item, it has to be sold as the owners are moving on, perhaps a figure in the region of ^500 to 1,000 might be achieved.^

The auction at Birkin House will take place at 10.30am on Tuesday, November 26 with viewing over the proceeding weekend and on the Monday prior to the auction. For more information call 01305 257544 or visit dukes-auctions.com