Alan Carr Keeps Unsold Concrete Cow from Ayton Castle Auction

Comedian Alan Carr is keeping a concrete cow sculpture, the only unsold lot from an auction of unwanted items at his recently purchased Ayton Castle in the Scottish Borders. The auction, held on Sunday after viewings on Friday and Saturday, sold hundreds of 'residual' contents including furniture, paintings, and textiles. The top price was £24,000 for a five-seater Bentley Mulsanne. Highlights included the Branxton Cement Menagerie, Northumberland folk art creations by a retired joiner in the 1960s, originally made to entertain his disabled son. The collection grew into a popular visitor attraction, was sold and moved to Ayton Castle in 2021, and its pieces were auctioned off, fetching about £28,000 overall. Auctioneer Jim Railton of Railtons Auctioneers noted the cow failed to find a bidder, so Carr will keep it as a memento. The sale is expected to generate about £100,000 for the castle's former owners.