The 400-year-old “temple” is set on a lovely piece of property along the River Dove.
Photo Photo via dailymail.co.uk
Editor’s note: To celebrate the holiday season, we are counting down the twelve days of Christmas with a fly-fishing theme. (Yes, we realize that the actual Twelvetide celebration comes after Christmas, but that didn’t seem as fun.) We’re using classic posts that align with the lyrics of the traditional tune as closely as possible. Although dove feathers are used for fly tying, I couldn’t resist reposting this story about temple built on the River Dove by Izaak Walton’s friend, James Cotton.
“On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me two turtle doves . . .”
The famed stone temple on the River Dove, where Izaak Walton and his friend James Cotton spent many an hour, has been put on the market. Walton was nearly 80 years old in 1674, when Cotton had the “cottage” built on his property, but the two visited frequently until Walton’s death in 1683. The initials of Walton and Cotton are carved over the door, along with the Latin phrase Piscatoribus Sacrum, which means “a sanctuary for fishermen.”
The sale includes three miles of beautiful unspoiled riverbank, stretching alongside River Dove in Staffordshire
Photo via dailymail.co.uk
This historic, one-room building is now up for sale, along with 33 acres and a stretch of the River Dove. For just £450,000 (that’s $763,000 U.S.), you can own this piece of history, as well as a pretty good trout stream.
[C]urrent owner, 80-year-old Michael Collins, . . .said: ‘This is the cream of game fishing. It is positioned at the head of the river where you aren’t bothered with any coarse fish that live in the bigger rivers like pike. It is purely game fishing, trout and grayling, which are wild and are not farmed.
‘It’s lovely scenery and history makes it a very sought-after venue to fish.’
I’m a little skint right now, but if one of you could loan me the money. . .
I’ll lend you 20 bucks if I can come and fish it!
The link is from June 2014! Hasn’t it sold yet? If not, the pound has dropped against the dollar, so the asking price would be down to only $553,500, but they might take an even lower bid.