A COLLECTION of antique furniture, paintings, and ceramics from one of Richmond's oldest houses has fetched £1.3m at a London auction, nearly three times more than expected.

The 363 lots from St Nicholas, situated on the outskirts of the town, beside the River Swale, were estimated to sell for no more than about £500,000 - but brisk bidding at Christie's South Kensington saleroom, much of it from North-East buyers who had travelled to the auction, sent prices through the roof.

The most expensive items were a set of six pencil and watercolour sketches by the 18th Century artist George Cuitt, depicting views of Richmond. They had been billed prior to the sale as the most desirable lot on offer. But the £30,000 estimate was eclipsed by a buyer identified only as a "North Yorkshire private collector" who paid £135,750.

Cuitt retired to Richmond in 1777 due to ill health, probably around the time he created the pictures, as well as another pair showing Easby ruins and a view of the town which fetched £29,375.

A William IV rosewood table which was estimated at £10,000 to 15,000, fetched £75,250, and a childhood portrait of Lady Serena James, who owned St Nicholas until her death last year aged 99, sold for £56,400.

St Nicholas was built during the late 1530s to replace the guest house belonging to Easby Abbey, which was destroyed under the orders of Henry VIII during the dissolution of the monasteries. The property became the home of Lady Serena after her marriage to the Hon Robert James in 1923.

The gardens surrounding the house became a popular tourist attraction after Lady Serena and her husband, who together designed and cultivated the gardens, opened them to the public.

Included in the sale were dozens of antique horticultural books which Lady Serena used for reference in planning the gardens, including the nine-volume Botanical Magazine by the horticulturist William Curtis which was illustrated with 1,000 hand-coloured illustrations and sold for £7,050.

Another hefty tome, this time devoted to The Natural Order of Gerania, fetched £3,525.

More unusual items from the collection included an 18th Century silk fan painted with a scene of figures standing beside a tree and bearing a label inscribed: "This antique fan was the property of the gorgeous Lady Blessington, given to her by Louis Napoleon III, Emperor of France. It had belonged to his mother Hortense." It fetched £940.

The collection, which was sold by order of Lady Serena's executors, had been displayed in the house for decades and included items from her childhood family homes at Lumley Castle, in County Durham, and Park Lane, in London.

Andrew Waters, of Christie's house sale department said: "There was considerable international interest in a packed saleroom with buyers bidding competitively for a piece of North Yorkshire history, partly due to the impeccable provenance of Lady Serena's collection. We were particularly pleased to see the George Cuitt's views of Richmond return to the region."

The bargain of the day, however, went to one canny local bidder who bought three 18th Century mahogany chairs for just £70.