Possible Iron Age fort at planned mansion site

An American billionaire's plans to build a country house in an English village could be delayed by a possible Iron Age hillfort near the site.

Ronald Burkle, a businessman and the executive chairman of Soho House, has applied to West Oxfordshire District Council.

The development would be on 4.37 hectares of farmland in Little Tew between Banbury and Chipping Norton.

But Oxfordshire County Council said laser scanning had suggested there could be features on the site "related to a possible Iron Age multi-vallate hillfort" southeast of the development area.

The authority has recommended an archaeological field evaluation be carried out before the district council makes a decision.

According to the planning documents, Mr Burkle applied for permission from the council in August.

The complex would include a country house and gardens, stables, new highways accesses, solar panels, drainage works and landscape proposals, including a new lake.

A previous application was rejected in December 2022, but in August developers said they had made changes based on some of the points raised.

"We have taken the ideas suggested by the Design Review Panel and have used them to turn a good ordinary house into what we believe is an exceptional work of architecture," reads the planning application paper.

The comment from the county council said the planned development would involve "extensive groundworks", which could negatively affect "any surviving archaeology".

It said a qualified archaeological organisation should carry out the field evaluation to "define the character and extent of the archaeological remains within the application area".

"This information can be used for identifying potential options for minimising or avoiding damage to the archaeology and on this basis, an informed and reasonable decision can be taken," it said.

The planning application remains under consideration.

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