Last updated at 13:36, Friday, 13 November 2009

A farm which was at the centre of one of Cumbria’s most notorious murder cases in recent years is to be auctioned off with an expected guide price of more than £500,000.

The Croft, Kirkandrews on Eden, near Carlisle

The Croft, at Kirkandrews-on-Eden, hit the headlines a year ago as a crown court jury in Carlisle heard harrowing details about the murder of 53-year-old Jane Wilson.

A rural postwoman, with a passion for horses, she died on December 1, 2007, in what police initially thought was an accident in the barn next to The Croft farmhouse, where she was crushed beneath the wheels of a tractor driven by her husband Robert, 41.

The jury later convicted him of brutally murdering her and staging the accident to cover up what he had done.

Wilson is now serving life, with a minimum term of 22 years before he is eligible to apply for parole.

The farm, along with outbuildings and land, will be publicly auctioned by Longtown based CD Property Services, at 2pm on Tuesday, December 8 – two years and a week after Jane Wilson’s death.

The house, outbuildings and a four-acre paddock is expected to fetch £440,000 while the barn and attached land is assessed as being worth £55,000. A further 18.36 acres of agricultural land has been valued at £64,000.

The farm is described as “an excellent residential small-holding with good equestrian facilities which are ideal for business or residential use.” The farm building is to be sold along with carpets and curtains.

During the murder trial the barn where Jane Wilson’s body was found effectively became a courtroom as the jury and the judge, Mr Justice David Clarke, made a site visit to better understand the terrible events there.

The four-week trial last December heard details of Robert Wilson’s complicated love life, including how he had led a double life, posing as a lonely widower so he could take a lover in Spain while appearing to be a gentleman farmer, and happily married.

The prosecution said he killed his wife because his two worlds – as a contented husband and as a man with a romantic adventurer – were about to collide thanks to a planned visit to the farm by his lover from Spain.

His deception was uncovered after Jane Wilson’s adult children Sharon and Lee Kennedy found evidence of his affair at The Croft. Wilson is attempting to mount an appeal against his conviction.

The auction will be held at The Greenhill Hotel, Red Dial, Wigton. It is not yet clear what will happen to the proceeds of the sale.

First published at 09:52, Friday, 13 November 2009
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk