Residents of a historic Cotswolds village claim they are facing a staggering £70,000 bill in a bitter dispute with their diocese over a 250-year-old tree. Richard and Melanie Gray were left stunned after receiving a “threatening” letter alleging their Sycamore tree had caused damage to the neighbouring vicarage.
The couple are now locked in an escalating battle over proposals to chop down the landmark – dubbed the Four Shire Tree – in the picturesque village of Lower Brailes. Their property adjoins the Grade I-listed St George’s Church in the idyllic village, with the tree standing 15 metres from both their home and the vicarage. It served as the original vicarage before the church split the land to construct a new one and sold off the old building.
Mr Gray said the tree had actually been promoted as a key feature for prospective buyers when the couple acquired The Old Parsonage in 1982. However, the Diocese of Coventry is now reportedly insisting the tree must be felled or a £70,000 root barrier constructed.
Legal representatives acting for the 12th century church’s insurers indicate they will attempt to recover the eye-watering sum from the couple, leaving them appalled.
Grandfather-of-six Mr Gray said: “The irony is unbelievable. Here’s an organisation which is supposed to have pastoral care and love thy neighbour, and then they say take this tree down or we’ll charge you £70,000.
“To have a threatening letter sent out of the blue by the church doesn’t seem to fit into their Christian ethos for me when they are a spiritual organisation supposedly looking out for the local community. And then there’s the environmental impact too – the tree is 250-years-old and a citadel of invertebrates, insects and animals.
“It doesn’t seem to fit with the church philosophy of ‘All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small’ if they are going to destroy a historic tree. There’s been no knock at the door or anyone coming around to talk about this.
“I think they’ve arranged one of the biggest solicitors in the country to act on their behalf, too. The vicar hasn’t shown his face and is yet to say anything. I think they should adopt a positive attitude towards trees and their benefit to parishioners and do their utmost to save trees, not kill them.
“So here we are locking horns with an organisation that’s supposed to have the pastoral care of the community in their hands and its doing exactly the opposite. We’re not going to pay and we’re not going to take it down and the church are still threatening to send us this rather large bill.”
The Diocese of Coventry chose to split the land during the early 1980s to make room for the newly-constructed vicarage.
It sold the original house and its remaining garden to private buyers, with the duo, who have since parted ways but maintain a close friendship, becoming the second private owners of the property.
However, the diocese now alleges the tree’s roots have triggered subsidence and are insisting it be felled – or they will put in a root barrier at a cost of £69,768.88, plus VAT.
Yet in a separate report from January 2023, Mr Gray said engineers working for the diocese concluded the tree was not to blame – instead pointing to hot weather for the subsidence.
Locals refer to the church as the “Cathedral of the Feldon” due to its status as one of Warwickshire’s largest and “most stunning” religious buildings.
Mr Gray commented: “The tree is unusual in that it has four trunks. It was in the centre of the vicarage garden. The tree was central to the fate celebrations, just up the road is the Four Shire stone.
“It has a bit of an identity and it’s a magnificent tree. I’ll probably be dead before anything is enforced in law, I’m 76. But I care about the tree. Its absolutely splendid. They’ll need a court order, they can’t just enforce this.”
A spokesperson for law firm Clyde and Co responded: “We are confident that our work has been carried out professionally and fairly at all times.”