Landmark 2016

ory Clark was working for a small

rural practice in Suffolk, heading

up their rural professional work,

when he first came in to contact with the

Forestry Commission. When the practice

was split and sold in 2002, Rory went

self-employed and took on several of their

rural clients, one of which was the Forestry

Commission. After working together for

a number of years, they offered him a

position as a full-time Area Land Agent.

“The work was so diverse and interesting

that I decided to take the opportunity. The

Forestry Commission is a huge asset to

the UK and owns the largest landholding

in England, which is managed by a team

of 15 extraordinarily passionate Land

Agents. I’m responsible for 35,000 acres

across eight counties, which range from

farming, residential, and commercial

lets, to traditional large scale forestry

operations and community forests on urban

fringes. The role of an Area Land Agent is

surprisingly autonomous. Of course there

are policies to follow, but we’re each able to

manage our districts using

our own initiative, which

makes it a very demanding

yet enjoyable role.”

From the outset, Rory

had always known exactly

what he wanted to do.

“I wanted to be involved in farming but

not get up at 5am every morning, so

land agency seemed a good choice. The

RAU stood out due to its outstanding

reputation. Indeed, I had a fantastic

time and made friendships for life.”

He graduated in 1984 and began his

career at the prestigious Badminton Estate

in Gloucestershire. “I started as Junior

Assistant Agent, and, being particularly

good at property repairs, spent most of my

time doing all of the things the Senior Land

Agents didn’t want to do! Within my first

few weeks, I was asked to inspect a damp

ceiling in the butler’s house. I confidently

advised that it was caused by the kettle

steaming and suggested he opened the

window – a week later the entire ceiling

collapsed due to a leaking water pipe.

That humiliation took a while to get over.”

Rory then went on to become Deputy

Agent of the Althorp Estate in 1987, where

he managed 13,000 acres of beautiful

countryside, as well as a small tenant farm

of 300 breeding ewes. During his time

at Althorp, he helped set up the practice

Samuel Rose – which is now much

expanded – as one of its four directors,

which included the Althorp Estate in its list

of rural clients. He then moved to Suffolk

where he set up his own rural estate

agency practice, Clark and Willcocks,

with one other partner in 1992, and ran

it successfully for nearly a decade.

Then in 1999, inspired by the anecdotal

situations he’d encountered over the years,

Rory decided to take two years away from

his rural practice and concentrate on his

writing. Depicting the day-to-day life of a

rural land agent, Rory has published three

witty novels;

You’ve Done What My Lord?

An English Country Manner

, and

Style and

Manors

, which have sold more than 60,000

copies. “I’ve always enjoyed the creative

side of writing, and while the roles I’ve been

in have provided me with ample fodder, the

characters and situations described in my

books are purely fictional. I set aside certain

hours each day to write; without the routine

it would be easy to let the work drift.”

While Rory’s current position with

the Forestry Commission keeps him

plenty busy, there are a few exciting

new projects in the pipeline.

Responsible for managing 35,000 acres of land across

eight different counties, there’s no such thing as a dull

day in the office for Rory Clark, published author and

Area Land Agent for the Forestry Commission.

Name:

Rory Clark

Course:

BSc (Hons) Rural Estate Management

Class of:

1984

PROFILE

Creative

writing

ALUMNI PROFILES