John Earle's October auction was conducted, as usual at the Henley Golf & Country Club.

The 5.08 acres of land at Knowle was sold prior to auction for a figure in excess of the guide price.

In the room, Richard Abbey firstly offered for sale 122 Alcester Road, a three bedroom mid-terrace cottage in Studley and despite an initial cautious start, after steady bidding, the gavel finally fell at £115,000.

The next Lot to be offered was Glebe Farm at Aston Cantlow. This property had generated immense interest both from the public and the media due to its attached Chancel Repair Liability. However, prior to auction the Parochial Church Council of Aston Cantlow agreed that upon completion of the sale, the Lay Rectorialship responsibilities would be removed absolutely. This means that when completion takes place 28 days after the auction, the new owner of Glebe Farmhouse, buildings and land will not be responsible for the maintenance and repair of St John's Church, Aston Cantlow. During the six week marketing campaign, a vast amount of interest was created in the property because of all the Court cases between Aston Cantlow PCC and Mr & Mrs Wallbanks resulting in a final decision from the House of Lords some two and a half years ago that found in favour of the PCC. We were contacted by Touch Radio, BBC Midlands Today, BBC Coventry & Warwickshire Radio, The Daily Telegraph, Birmigham Post, a representative from the Press Association, the Solihull News and we were involved in some filming to be used with Mr & Mrs Wallbank's live interview on GMTV on the morning of the auction sale.

The auction room was unsurprisingly packed and although the initial bidding was slow and cautious, Richard Abbey did take bids from all parts of the room, there was very strong competition that finally resulted in the gavel falling at £850,000.

Peter Cornford for John Earle said after the sale that the results far exceeded both the clients' and the firm's expectations and was most pleased that a very good price was obtained and that the Wallbank family can now put all the matters concerning their Lay Rectorialship that was attached to Glebe Farm behind them after a 20 years struggle and unfortunately substantial legal costs and expenses.