Teigncombe Manor planning clash

A £250k extension at Teigncombe Manor triggers a review by Dartmoor National Park Authority amid heritage concerns.

Teigncombe Manor faces planning scrutiny over celebrity extension

Celebrity couple Jennifer Saunders and Ade Edmondson are seeking to discharge several planning conditions on their Dartmoor home Teigncombe Manor, a Grade II listed building. The original permission covered a new entrance, parking area, an extended workshop, a terrace, and moving a greenhouse, with plans also calling for a garden pavilion, air source heat pumps, and a solar array. The applicants want to remove certain time limits and details, and to omit a pre approved method for locating and installing air source equipment.

Conservation officer Clare Vint warned that the current proposals could harm the building and its setting, stressing the interior and exterior are of high architectural, historical and archaeological significance. She cautioned that the car pergola, new entrance and other features could disrupt the relationship between the main house and its stables, and that screening and careful siting are needed to minimise visual impact. The case underscores how planning for historic properties must balance private use with protection of heritage value. A decision on the discharge of conditions will come later from Dartmoor National Park Authority.

The dispute illustrates a wider tension between private lifestyle upgrades and public heritage duties. When celebrities buy historic homes, their projects can become high profile tests of how planning rules protect character and landscape. This case shows that approval is not a blank check; conservation rules exist to safeguard the building’s story for future generations. The outcome could set a signal for similar proposals on sensitive sites across rural England.

Beyond the specifics, the decision will reveal how local authorities interpret the public interest in heritage when private wealth and personal taste collide with long term preservation goals.

Highlights

Heritage sits at the center of this debate, shaping what private homes can become in a public landscape.