IF YOU have ever fancied yourself as lord of the manor, with your very own ferry passage and jetty to boot plus Severn fishing rights, now is your chance!

For the Lordship of the Manor of Aust, at the other end of the historic Beachley-Aust ferry passage which many people in the Forest and Wye Valley will remember fondly, is up for sale next month.

And with it goes the foreshore and bed of the River Severn as far as an imaginary line in mid-river, a pier and a wharf, the right to ferry, a cliff of geological significance and the old pound in Aust.

Included too are the fishing rights to catch all fish except sturgeon, or royal fish, plus the right to station 646 salmon putchers on Aust Rock, now tucked under the eastern end of the Severn Bridge, whose opening in the 1960s made the then ferry service redundant.

One drawback is that you might only be able to stroll over the domain twice each 24 hours when the tide is out!

Land agents Strutt and Parker have been instructed by a private seller to auction this title and several others next month.

They put a guide price of £10,000 on the Aust title, which has passed through several hands since being mentioned in the Domesday census as being held by Thurstan, son of Rolf.

It eventually came into the hands of the Lippincott family, related to the present owner. Lippincotts were in the fleet that crossed to America with the Pilgrim Fathers, and Sir Richard Cann-Lippincott was reputed to have been on his coach when the coachman was killed – said to be the last man in England killed by a highwayman – in a holdup in 1745.

James Del Mar, spokesman for the agent, told the Review that the Aust sale was unusual because it also carried land titles and fishing rights.

"Today, most no longer have an estate attached, although purchasers do have the right to call themselves lord or lady of the manor and to use the title on their passports and other official documents," he said.

Coats of arms are personal but purchasers are at liberty to apply to the College of Arms for the grant of their own armorial bearings.

If your are outbid on the Aust title you might consider the Lordship of the Manor of Pencoed, Monmouthshire (guide price £7,000) as your fallback position – again, there's a colourful past going back to 1270.

Details of the sale, and a catalogue (at the hefty price of £15) are available from Stephen Hawes, Strutt and Parker, Covall Hall, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 2QF, Tel: 01245 258 201.

The sale takes place at Ironmonger's Hall in the City of London on Wednesday November 10.