National Ledger - Photo Unveils Hidden Castle of Robert Fidler

Share This \| Related Photo Unveils Hidden Castle of Robert Fidler
By Jon Shanks Jan 26, 2008

A British farmer named Robert Fidler is fighting to keep the city from bulldozing his castl that he built by hiding the construction with hay bales. Officials were unaware of the elaborate castle because hundreds of bails of straw concealed it for four years, the UK Daily Telegraph reported Friday. After Fidler, 59 unveiled his home to neighbors in 2006 he was served a planning contravention notice the following March, which ordered demolition of the structure.

The Hidden Castle of Robert Fidler (Image Credit: Daily Mail)

"I can't believe they want to demolish this beautiful house. To me it (the council) is no different from vandals who just want to smash it down," Fidler said.

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Wednesday, after a lengthy appeal, Fidler began protesting the notice at a public inquiry at Religate Town Hall. He is also reportedly standing up to the borough council on an enforcement notice for the building of a go-cart course on his land along with 12 other enforcement notices.

A photo of how the hay bales hide the structure is here. The site is located on the Green Belt and the developments constitute inappropriate development, which is harmful to the openness of the Green Belt, a spokeswoman said. According to the Daily Mail, Fidler, who has five children from a previous marriage, said: "We moved into the house on Harry's first birthday, so he grew up looking at straw out of the windows.

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"We thought it would be a boring view but birds nested there and feasted on the worms. We had several families of robins and even a duck made a nest and hatched 13 ducklings on top of the bales."

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