Scottish Borders forest with hills 'shaped like breasts' goes up for sale

Norwood Forest, a 939-hectare property near Hawick in the Scottish Borders.
-Credit: (Image: Goldcrest Land & Forestry Group SWNS)


A Scottish forest that includes two hills that are 'shaped like breasts' has just gone up for sale.

Norwood Forest is a 939-hectare area of land situated near Hawick in the Scottish Borders. It has been described as the 'Rolls Royce' of Scottish forests due to its substantial size and quality.

The forest is up for sale for offers over £19.5 million after being held by the same family since the 1970s. The predominantly Sitka spruce land is owned by the Norwood Partnership comprising of family members and a charity.

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Norwood Forest's most curious feature is the 'Maiden Paps', which are twin hills so named because they supposedly resemble human breasts. Situated around 12 kilometres south of Hawick, the hills sit 510 metres and 500 metres high respectively.

Elsewhere, Norwood also includes a wide range of burns, ponds, and a section of the Catrail — an 11.5-mile long ditch and bank cutting across the upper Teviot Valley that is believed to have been constructed in the fourth and fifth centuries. The land also features a substantial stone quarry that features a stock pile of crushed stone and additional borrow pits, while wind farm interest in the area is considerable, according to the sellers.

Sporting rights are also included in the sale and are unlet. At the moment, deer are professionally controlled by an in-house wildlife management team.

Maiden Paps
The Maiden Paps earned their nickname because of their supposed resemblance to human breasts -Credit:Photo © Walter Baxter (cc-by-sa/2.0)

The GOLDCREST Land & Forestry Group listing states: "In 1974 the current owner’s father bought Kingsrigg, a 582 hectare upland livestock farm. In 1976 the adjoining 214 hectare Hawkhass Estate was acquired and a final purchase of 152 hectares being Shankend Hill took place in 1993.

"Since 2015 the three properties have been owned by the Norwood Partnership, a partnership comprising family members and a charity."

Partner at GOLDCREST Land & Forestry Group Jon Lambert added: "Norwood is the Rolls Royce of large-scale commercial forestry. It is rare to come across a forest of this size that is of such superb quality.

"Possibly the most desirable, extensive operational forest in the south of Scotland, it has more than 200ha of mature high quality timber ready for felling and offering immediate income potential. With timber prices increasing, this will generate substantial revenue for the foreseeable future.

"Add the premium location, an excellent forest road network, a diverse age class structure, the outstanding quality of the forestry and Norwood ticks every box. It is an exemplary forest that has been managed to an exacting standard and I expect it to attract considerable attention."

Conifers comprise 735 hectares of the land, the majority of which is Sitka spruce. According to the agents, large volumes of high quality timber have been harvested.

Norwood Forest, a 939-hectare property near Hawick in the Scottish Borders
Norwood also features a large number of burns, ponds, and more -Credit:Goldcrest Land & Forestry Group, SWNS

A long-term forest plan was agreed in May 2024, with felling approved for the following 10 years. Managed by the same firm since planting began more than 50 years ago, the aim has been "to maximise timber production and sequester carbon while also enhancing the amenity and conservation value of the forest where possible".

Scottish Power Energy Networks has just commenced a consultation process for a proposed 400kV steel tower overhead power line to run from Gala North Substation to the Scottish Borders route. According to the listing, this may affect Norwood.

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