For almost 1,000 years, Barton Court Estate has been home to a 32-room Georgian mansion, 145 acres of countryside and a section of one of England’s finest chalk streams.
When Pippa Middleton, sister of the Princess of Wales, and her husband, billionaire hedge fund manager James Matthews, took over the historic estate, they promised to restore it to its former rural splendour.
“Recognising the importance of preserving its ecological heritage, the estate has embarked on ambitious initiatives to rehabilitate its landscapes and promote biodiversity,” the estate’s website states. “By harnessing the power of nature, we are committed to fostering a harmonious balance between human activity and the natural world.”
Those are admirable aims. Yet not everyone believes the new owners of the Berkshire property have struck the right balance.
Even distinguished historian Sir Max Hastings, who lives locally and is not known for indulging in village gossip, recently remarked: “In country life, it is prudent to rub along reasonably peaceably with the locals. In our corner of West Berkshire, much local gossip focuses on Pippa Middleton and her husband. Other snippets rattle around, alleging stingy tipping, more-royal-than-the-royals behaviour. None of this makes the family entirely beloved.”
A series of planning disputes has since put that local harmony under growing strain in the picturesque village of Kintbury, where the estate is based.
As Oscar Wilde’s famously sharp-tongued aristocrat might have put it, one dispute with the neighbours may be unfortunate; two begins to look like carelessness.
Residents say Pippa and James Middleton have rarely been seen around the village recently
The couple bought Barton Court for £15.5 million in 2022, following the death of its former owner, Sir Terence Conran
The latest dispute came to light last month, when the couple were required to remove a car park built on a water meadow beside the River Kennet.
The paddock was known to villagers as the summer grazing ground for Monty and Drummer, two shire horses that once pulled barges along the nearby Kennet and Avon Canal. About the size of a tennis court, the newly laid hard-standing had been installed without planning permission and was intended to accommodate six cars.
In November last year, the estate applied to West Berkshire Council for retrospective approval.
The application drew objections from residents, who said they were “shocked” to see part of the field leading into the village transformed into a private car park for anglers paying as much as £325 a day to fish the river.
“The hard-standing itself, viewed in isolation without anything on it, is already an eyesore,” one objector wrote to the council. “The water meadows provide a unique beautiful approach to the village with pleasant views on [the] side of the road. The hard-standing is a brutal interruption of the bucolic scene.”
Another resident said the retrospective application demonstrated a “disregard for both the law, and the village and villagers of Kintbury”. A third questioned why the car park had been placed there, arguing that plenty of parking was already available on the estate, including beside the driveway entrance, within 350 metres of the fishing area.
“In summary, this application is to move unsightly parking out of the sight of the applicants’ own entry to the Barton Court estate to the detriment of the residents and the heritage of Kintbury,” they wrote.
The council rejected the application, describing the car park as an “urbanising” and “visually intrusive feature” in a “highly sensitive rural landscape”.
The estate appealed, arguing that angling—and therefore the parking area—was essential to the “running of and upkeep of the estate”. However, a government planning inspector dismissed the appeal, concluding that the car park had harmed the surrounding landscape.
The inspector also questioned how significantly removing the facility would affect the business, noting that the estate had supplied no financial evidence to support its claim.
Mr Matthews, who founded Eden Rock Capital Management in 2001 and is heir to Scotland’s 10,000-acre Glen Affric estate, is estimated to have a fortune of £2 billion. He and his wife bought Barton Court for £15.5 million in 2022 after the death of former owner Sir Terence Conran.
Last week, some villagers made clear that wealth and status had done little to win over their sympathies. “They have an attitude that they can do what they want because she is the sister of the future Queen of England, but they want all the perks with none of the sense of duty,” a 78-year-old local man told The Mail on Sunday.
Kintbury residents remain divided over how welcome the Matthews family is in the village
The car park built by Mr Matthews became a source of tension among residents
“They say they need it to help cover the cost of running the estate, but that’s just rubbish when he is worth £2 billion. And I walk here regularly and never see anyone fishing.”
An employee at a local pub, who asked not to be identified, added: “She doesn’t think she needs permission to do anything, but she came unstuck with that one.”
The older parishioner also raised another long-running dispute involving the couple: a row over public access near their home. “Conran was OK,” he said of the former owner and celebrated British designer, who died in 2020. “He didn’t have any problems with people using the footpaths or setting foot on his estate. It’s a big enough place, so you should be generous.”
The footpath dispute began soon after the Middletons arrived in Kintbury, when they installed electric gates operated by a keypad. Signs declaring “private” and “no entry” were placed across a section of concreted track that the couple said formed part of the long driveway to their house.
However, local residents—including 35 members of the West Berkshire Ramblers—maintained that the track had long been a public right of way and had been regularly used as a footpath since at least the 1960s.
They argued that the route provided an important connection to another public footpath crossing the estate, linking outlying areas with the village and its 12th-century church.
Residents said the closure forced walkers to use Station Road instead, a route busy with HGVs and delivery vehicles and lacking a pavement for safe pedestrian access.
Amid claims that 43-year-old Ms Middleton was invoking her sister’s royal status to justify restricting access on security grounds, the ramblers applied in January 2023 for the route to be formally recognised as a public footpath.
The car park was built on the field where Drummer the shire horse spent the summer
Mr Matthews, 51, challenged the application, saying the path had not been used freely for the required 20-year period. During a public inquiry in May, the father of three told the hearing: “There are implications for my family, due to their high public profile, which means there is a need for a higher level of security than would otherwise be the case.”
Initially, government-appointed planning inspector Ken Taylor told the couple that privacy and security concerns could not be used to justify closing the track.
But in September, he ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove the route had been freely used by walkers and overturned its designation. Even so, some residents say the dispute has left behind “ill-will and residual anger”.
“I didn’t like the way they closed off the gate, which people had been using for years. That was an aggressive move, in my opinion,” one villager told the MoS. “It wasn’t hurting anyone, and it was necessary because you can’t walk down Station Road itself because it’s far too dangerous. The car park may not look like much, but if you have spent your life here then it’s something you notice straight away. It’s completely out of keeping with the area.”
Since James and Pippa assumed responsibility for the estate, its fishing operation has also been revamped. In January, the estate promoted “significant improvements” on a forum used by fly-fishermen seeking trout, adding: “This year we’ve also added a brand-new shepherd’s hut, purpose-built for fishermen, along with a new car park.”
That car park has now been removed. The couple themselves also appear to be spending less time in the village, where residents say they have not been seen recently.
With young children and demanding schedules, their absence is perhaps understandable. The couple are reportedly regular visitors to Ms Middleton’s parents, Carole and Michael, who live about 30 minutes away. They also have the option of visiting St Barts in the Caribbean, where Mr Matthews’s parents, David and Jane, live.
Some residents, however, remain firmly on the couple’s side. “Honestly, people will say anything to have a go at them,” said a 72-year-old pensioner walking her dachshund. “It is extremely unfair. They have massively improved the land that they own, trimmed the trees and hedges, and made it much safer for walkers.
“They employ a lot of people to manage the land, all of whom are extremely polite to walkers like me. I honestly can’t fault them. And to say they don’t get involved in village life is an outright lie.
“My husband and I sat next to them in church last Christmas. Ms Middleton takes part in the Kintbury 5k run every year. I’ve seen her swimming in the river. You see the children, who are beautifully mannered and always say ‘Hello’, out on their bicycles.”
“People compare them with Terence Conran, but it isn’t a fair comparison. He was never here, for one thing; he didn’t have a young family and he didn’t face the same security concerns. I’m afraid it comes down to jealousy.”
An 85-year-old resident named Beryl was similarly baffled by the controversy surrounding the car park. “It’s a tiny patch of a watercress meadow beside the road and opposite two other car parks, so what’s the fuss about? All they did was put some gravel down—it wasn’t even concrete.
“I don’t understand why people have to be so nasty. They are a lovely family. I hear people say it was better when Terence Conran was there, but I remember summer parties going on until 3am, with the music keeping us all awake.”
If Sir Terence, despite spending almost 50 years on the estate, could still fall out with his neighbours, the outlook may be challenging for its newer owners—royal connections notwithstanding.
Additional reporting: Ross Slater