Dan Snow told he CAN'T tear down £7million country mansion's orangery (2024)

As an award-winning TV historian, Dan Snow has championed Britain’s rich architectural heritage.

But when it came to a building project of his own, officials found very little at all to admire.

TV presenter Dan Snow has lost a battle to tear down an orangery in the grounds of his £7million country mansion and build a two-storey office in its place.

The Battlefield Britain presenter and his heiress wife Lady Edwina Grosvenor submitted plans so they could work from their 18th century home in the New Forest.

Snow, 36, and Lady Edwina, 33 – who as daughter of Britain’s richest landowner, the Duke of Westminster, stands to inherit some of his £8.5billion fortune – wanted a detached office so they could keep work and family life with their two young children separate.

But members of the New Forest National Park Authority rejected the application after complaining about the size and saying it looked like something 'you would find on an industrial estate'.

The couple bought the four-bedroom house in Exbury, Hampshire, from convicted mercenary Simon Mann for a reported £10million in 2009.

Father-of-two Mr Snow wanted to demolish a 1970s-built neoclassical-style orangery in the garden and replace it with an ultra-modern eco-friendly building.

Clad in timber and corrugated metal to give it an ‘agricultural feel’, the 3,000sq ft building would have enough space to store boats and room for the pair to hold meetings with the charities they support.

The TV presenter would also have hosted tutorials for university students as well as allowing the local community to use it occasionally.

He toldthe NPA's planning and development control committee it would replace an 'appalling building that is effectively derelict'.

'It would not be seen from the road and would only be seen in snatches from the river,' he said.

A report that formed part of the couple's planning application said: 'Both have high-profile jobs and are in public and media demand.

'This necessitates a great deal of travelling and with two very young children they would like to be able to work from home as much as possible but enjoy a degree of separation from the main house in order to enjoy a better worklife balance.

'Dan also works with university students and would like to be able to utilise the facility from time to time for tutorials and training.

'Both Dan and Edwina are patrons of many charities and have periodic meetings which they would like to be able to hold at their home as opposed to travelling to London.'

But NPA members criticised the scale and design of the proposed development.

Cllr David Harrison said: 'I completely understand why the applicants have put forward this proposal but it looks like something you would find on an industrial estate.

'We have a duty to approve schemes that enhance rather than detract - and I'm of the view that this detracts.'

The committee's reasons for refusal were: 'The proposed home office/studio, by virtue of its scale, size, form, appearance and intended use, could not be considered incidental or appropriate to the main and secondary dwellings at the site or the curtilage.

'It would also facilitate the creation of a separate dwelling for which only a minimal amount of internal alteration would subsequently be required.

'As such it would be contrary to the requirements the New Forest National Park Core Strategy and Development.'

The couple now have the option to appeal the decision.

The application was supported by the chairman of Exbury and Lepe Parish Council, Peter Hayward-Broomfield.

He said: 'The applicants are busy people with diverse careers. They need a suitable working environment that's separate from home and domestic distractions.

'It will have little visual impact or any other impact on the local community.'

Wendy Perring, from design firm Pad Studio, said the New Forest National Park Authority was mainly concerned about the office being used for residential purposes.

Mr Snow, whose father's cousin is Channel 4 News present Jon Snow, 67, graduated with first class honours in Modern History from the University of Oxford before beginning his presenting career.

He has presented many history programmes for the BBC and other broadcasters and has a regular history slot on The One Show.

Battlefield Britain, which aired in 2004, won a BAFTA Craft Award for special effects.

The same year Snow won a Sony award as one of the presenters on the LBC Boat Race

Lady Edwina's father is Britain's richest landowner, Gerald Grosvenor, 63, and she is set to inherit a slice of his £8.5billion fortune.

The spectacular property was formally owned by mercenary and former British Army officer Simon Mann, 62.

Mann was jailed for 34 years in Equatorial Guinea for his role in a failed Government coup in 2004. He received a presidential pardon on humanitarian grounds on 2 November 2009.

Mr Snow was not available for a comment when contacted.