An auction for an historic Co Westmeath property last week may have created its own bit of history, with a big gulf between the smallest and largest bids.

I was intrigued to hear that bids ranging from €1,000 to €100,000 were placed during the auction for South Hill House near Delvin.

The ancestral home of TE Lawrence, the famed Lawrence of Arabia, and its 139ac farm went under the hammer in Trim on Friday last, 27 February. It’s highly unlikely that veteran auctioneer, Thomas Potterton had seen such disparity in bidding either.

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The hammer came down at €3.21m for the property and I hear that a local family with business and farming interests were the purchasers.