AN ICONIC South Lakeland beauty spot is to be put up for sale by the landowner because of growing difficulties of looking after the site.

The Helm, near Oxenholme, has been owned by the Sizergh Castle-based Hornyold-Strickland family since the 13th century - but they have announced they will soon be looking for buyers.

A report from Henry Hornyold-Strickland to Natland Parish Council's annual meeting said the family had reached the 'difficult decision' after 780 years of ownership.

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"We have reached this decision for a number of reasons but principally because of the growing management problem, exacerbated by the increasing public use of the Helm, which has meant that sheep grazing is no longer feasible," it said.

"Consequently the Helm now requires more active management than we can provide."

It remains to be seen who would come forward as a prospective buyer and the price tag such an iconic and well-used piece of land would demand.

In 2007 33.5 hectares of the eastern section of the Helm, which faces the Howgills and is approximately half of the total site, was purchased by the Friends of the Lake District.

The charity's chief executive, Douglas Chalmers, said a lot of consideration would be required before they would look to purchase the remaining land.

Mr Chalmers said: "With the help of our wonderful volunteers we’ve planted 1,500 native trees, completed eight years of work to rebuild and repair large sections of drystone wall and introduced some native livestock to manage vegetation and encourage diversity. We’ve recently installed new fencing and gates to make it easier for the public to access and enjoy this section of the Helm too."

He added: "What you can see from this is that managing land like this requires a big commitment and willing volunteers to assist in caring for these areas.

“It means that if an area of the Helm does come up for sale, we will need to look carefully at what we could do there that fits with our charitable objectives and make a full and considered assessment. Owning common land with public access is a major undertaking and requires long-term commitment and planning to manage it sympathetically and for the benefit of all who use it.”

Following the announcement there were concerns raised about the future of public access to the 185 metre high hill.

Helm Hill running club was named after the popular beauty spot, and chairman Tim Murray said it would be a huge loss to the club's members if there was any interference with access.

"We've run on there for last 26 years, we meet there every Wednesday during the summer, and it's a really important part of the running club," he said.

"Access is the main concern. From a club perspective there are 150 of us who meet up there regularly and 80 of those are children. From our point of view it's fantastic to see so many kids running up the Helm every week and I think anything that affected that would be very detrimental."

However given that the Helm is protected common land, it would appear that there is little scope for a prospective new owner to prevent walkers visiting the Helm.

David Peters, chairman of Natland Parish Council, said: "It's common land so under the Right to Roam legislation there's open access to the whole area on foot.

"The concern of the community is that the Helm should be managed to keep it in good condition for the public to use. At the moment, because the commoners have given up grazing the Helm, they've no interest in managing it. The landowner has no interest in managing it so what the parish council wants is an owner who would manage it or some group who can come together to manage it.

"The problem around public use and sheep grazing is to do with dogs. People bring them and some of the dogs attack sheep which makes grazing impossible."

Malcolm Petyt, chairman of the Lake District area of the Ramblers Association, added: "I would hope that the Friends of the Lake District would add to what they already own because it would make sense. That would obviously depend on their current financial position.

"I think though whether or not they buy it's access land that the public can get on to anyway so there shouldn't be a problem with people losing the right to walk on it."