As the first castle to be built in Britain for over a century, the modern, ecologically responsible structure located on a hilltop in the heart of Shakespeare country was intended to make its mark.
But the ‘brutalist’ structure, made of recycled bricks with a square-shaped tower, has been compared to a ‘prison’ and a ‘multi-storey carpark’ by residents of the Warwickshire village of Wixford, that it overlooks.
While many locals gathered at the village hall last night to watch as Alcester Castle was revealed to the world on Channel 4’s Grand Design, few had anything good to say about it.
Jo Broadrick, 63, explained: ‘A lot of people around here have very strong opinions about the place.
‘Some say it looks like a prison, whereas most people say it’s like a car park.
‘A few of us got together to watch Grand Designs in the village hall on a big screen last night.
‘We all took a bottle of wine or a few beers and made a night of it.’
The TV show revealed how entrepreneur Piers and his police officer wife Emma, took on the mammoth task of building Britain’s newest castle on the site of an 18th century folly, known as the White Castle, that had fallen into despair.
The ‘brutalist’ structure, (pictured) made of recycled bricks with a square-shaped tower, has been compared to a ‘prison’ and a ‘multi-storey carpark’
As the first castle to be built in Britain for over a century, the modern, ecologically responsible structure located on a hilltop in the heart of Shakespeare country was intended to make its mark
Pictured: Chris and Jo Broadrick, they got together with other residents to watch the show
But there were gasps among the village hall audience TV host Kevin McCloud elicited the full £7.5million cost of the project.
Jo Broadrick added: ‘There were lots of gasps, especially about how much the whole project had cost.
‘Someone said Mrs Greg, the owner of the White Castle Folly, would turn in her grave if she could see what they had done.’
Other residents were less tactful. One likened the eight-bedroom castle to the concrete coastal defences built by the Nazi along the coastline of Europe, known as the Atlantic Wall.
The respected member of the community who asked not to be named told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s a vanity project.
‘It’s the most disgusting vainglorious thing I’ve ever seen.
‘It’s not a castle it is a folly.
‘And the £7.5million that has been spent creating it is a terrible waste of the planet’s resources.
While many locals gathered at the village hall (pictured) last night to watch as Alcester Castle was revealed to the world on Channel 4’s Grand Design, few had anything good to say about it
Pictured: Sonia and Clifford King. Residents question how the project was ever allowed to get off the ground
‘It’s absolutely bonkers.
‘And it has not benefited the local community one jot.
‘It is a nothing more than a brutalist, soviet construction, something akin to the Atlantic Wall.’
The television documentary revealed how the couple had hoped to build a ‘modern family home’ to share with their two daughters.
But it told how their initial budget of £2million for the project that included a tower, castellations, a mote, arrow slits and courtyards with loggias, spiralled out of control.
TV host Kevin McCloud told them: ‘You’d have to be out of your mind to build something like this.’
The couple explained that the new home would be as close to achieving net zero energy as possible with bricks made from recycled materials, photovoltaic roof slates, air source heat pumps and a wind turbine.
But entrepreneur Piers also revealed that he was forced to sell businesses and mortgages some of his properties to keep on top of the building costs.
There were gasps among the village hall audience TV host Kevin McCloud elicited the full £7.5million cost of the project
Pictured: Mother and son Carol and Jeremy Hammond. Carol, 82, said it reminded her husband of a ruined Norman castle in North Yorkshire
Now, four years after starting the build, the castle is not finished and the couple live in an adjoining barn.
Meanwhile residents question how the project was ever allowed to get off the ground.
Retired building contractor John Clarke, 78, said: ‘It looks just like a carpark.
‘I don’t know how he got planning permission to build it.
‘There not a lot they can do with it. And I don’t know how they can afford to live there.
‘Piers was on the parish council at one point, maybe that had something to do with it.
‘I lived here for 42 years, and the village has never seen anything like it.’
Villager Sonia King, 82, said: ‘It’s terrible, it looks like a multi-storey carpark.
‘We were shown plans of the castle before it went ahead and I’m not sure they are the same as what has been build.
‘I would like to know how he got planning permission.
‘I’d like to walk up there and take a close look, but I’d probably have a heart attack!’
Her husband retired company director Clifford King, 88, added: ‘I think it’s horrendous. But I thought it did look better on the TV. I feel sorry for them.’
Carol Hammond, 82, said it reminded her husband of a ruined Norman castle in North Yorkshire.
She said: ‘It’s absolutely atrocious, it looks like a multi-storey car park.
‘But when you look at it from my garden it looks like the ruins of a real castle.
‘My husband says it looks like Middleham Castle, in North Yorkshire – that’s a real castle that has fallen into ruins.’
Only retired fire-fighter Chris Broadrick had something nice to say about the ‘castle’.
He said: ‘It certainly makes a statement.
‘If I had the money, I would like to have bought it. I think it’s great.’
