The right to ferry passengers across the River Lark was sold for thousands of pounds at an auction which took place last week.

A 10-acre parcel of land at Ferry Drove, Isleham, went under the hammer and it came with the rights to carry people, horses and carts across an expanse of the river – for a toll, of course.

The property was sold by Cheffins at Clifton House, Cambridge, and fetched a some £85,000 – at the lower end of its £80,000 and £100,000 estimate.

A spokesman for Cheffins said: “The property has the right to ferry persons, horses and carts across the river and to take all tolls chargeable. Temporary mooring rights only for the purposes of access, loading and unloading are also available.”

Fishing rights also come with the land as does The Ferry pub – albeit the building having long been abandoned.

The land is grade II fen peat and can also be used to grow crops.

According to a commemorative stone left on the site, the Reverend Charles Haddon Spurgeon, known as the prince of preachers, was baptised in the River Lark – at the crossing point – on May 3, 1850.