The recent £25 million purchase of Scatwell Estate in the Scottish Highlands by Lego heiress Sofie Kirk Kristiansen has reignited debates about land ownership concentration in Scotland, even as new legislation aims to diversify control of the country's vast estates.
A Modern-Day Norse Invasion
Located at the mouth of Strathconon, Scotland's longest glen, Scatwell Estate carries a name with Norse origins that continues to reflect Scandinavian interest centuries later. The estate's name potentially derives from either 'skat' (tax) and 'vollr' (field), suggesting a place where money changed hands, or from 'skati' meaning wood, indicating where Vikings would raid for timber.
Ms Kirk Kristiansen's acquisition of the 3,500-hectare Ross-shire property represents a logical expansion of her family's existing Highland holdings, which already include the neighbouring and larger Strathconon Estate. The purchase brings her family's total Scottish land ownership to more than 28,000 hectares in this sparsely populated region of open hills and narrow mountainous landscapes.
The £25.2 million price tag raised eyebrows among seasoned observers, with land reform campaigner Andy Wightman suggesting the market value should be closer to £7 million for what he described as "high hill ground and some woodland."
Conservation Versus Community Concerns
The Strathconon Estate, which also manages Scardroy and Ledgowan, stated the purchase would help transform the newly amalgamated properties from a 'classic Highland shooting estate' to a 'wholehearted nature restoration project.' This aligns with Ms Kirk Kristiansen's conservation ambitions, which include native woodland recovery, peatland restoration, and managing deer populations to improve habitats for species such as golden eagle, ptarmigan, otter, salmon, red squirrel and Scots pine.
However, the purchase highlights ongoing concerns about land ownership concentration in Scotland. Roughly half of all privately owned rural land in Scotland remains in the hands of just 421 landowners, a statistic that land reformers find troubling. The recent Land Reform (Scotland) Bill passed by Holyrood aims to address this by facilitating the breakup of large estates and offering them back to communities.
The new legislation will require ministers to be notified before any sale greater than 1,000 hectares, giving community groups opportunity to table rival bids. This comes as land prices have increased dramatically over the past decade, with so-called 'green lairds' recognising the value of old shooting estates as places of 'natural capital' for restoring peatlands and forests that can generate carbon credits.
The Woman Behind the Purchase
Sofie Kirk Kristiansen, who turned 49 in November 2023, has always positioned herself differently from traditional landowners. Despite being born into the family that built Lego from a simple wooden toy company into a global brand worth over £20 billion, she never showed interest in running the business.
Instead, she has used her inherited wealth to pursue a deep-rooted love of nature that began in childhood. Growing up at Schelenborg, the family's 13th-century manor house on the island of Funen, she found solace in the forests, later explaining: "The place I feel most at home has always been in the woods with animals. It's where I can feel who I am."
In November 2023, she sold £720 million worth of her Lego shares back to family members to focus entirely on conservation projects. She established the organisation Earthkeeper, which funds "projects that create breathing spaces for the natural world," including conservation of virgin rainforest in Ecuador and rewilding her Danish estate.
Despite the controversy surrounding her recent purchase, local sources praise her approach to estate management. One unnamed local commented: "I don't think anyone has looked after a place as well as they have. They scrimp on nothing when it comes to looking after employees and the estate."
Sir Edward Mountain, MSP for the Highlands who worked with the family as a land manager, supports this view: "The family always invested in the local community and worked with them, whether it was running the Strathconon Games or helping to maintain the Strathconon Hall. Sofie is a particularly nice woman, and we should welcome their continued involvement in Scotland."
As Scotland grapples with balancing conservation goals against community land ownership, Sofie Kirk Kristiansen continues to build her vision for the Highlands—brick by ecological brick.
