For Jamie and Eda Pierce, the purchase of a secluded country estate appeared to be the kind of once-in-a-lifetime move many affluent buyers dream about.
The pristine five-bedroom, manor-house-style home sat amid seven acres of mature gardens and private grounds, with an enviable list of amenities including a swimming pool, tennis court, paddocks and stables.
There was even a helipad on the property.
When the couple, both successful company directors, completed the deal on August 23, 2022, paying an agreed £3.15 million, it looked as though they had landed an impressive country home at a reduced price.
The Pierces had negotiated £245,000 off the original asking price after the previous owners, Paul and Elizabeth Nott, listed the estate for £3,395,000.
But almost exactly three years later, their vision of a quiet rural life in Pootings, a small hamlet near Crockham Hill in Kent, was upended in dramatic fashion, with events unfolding virtually overnight.
At 5.05pm on Friday, August 22 last year, just minutes after the local council closed for the bank holiday weekend, a group of travellers moved onto land only yards from the couple’s front door and established what has been described as an illegal camp.
Residents say the arrival bore the hallmarks of a well-rehearsed strategy, with caravans and mobile homes accompanied by trucks and excavators in what locals claimed was a carefully timed operation.
Jamie and Eda Pierce bought their new home (circled) in Crockham Hill, Kent, complete with swimming pool and gym, for £3.15m in 2022
The Pierces bought the property from Paul and Elizabeth Nott and had managed to knock £245,000 off the asking price
Ancient hedgerows were hacked down to make way for a new entrance and driveway, and within hours tarmac had been laid on what had been an empty field opposite the couple’s home, on the other side of a narrow country lane.
Overnight, electricity cables and water pipes were installed and buried, while septic tanks, a sewage treatment infrastructure, waste pipes and fencing were put in place on the six-acre site on Green Belt land, which quickly became home to four families including 16 children.
The ‘battleground’ is just a ten-minute drive from Chartwell – the beloved family home of Sir Winston Churchill from 1924 until his death in 1965.
Now, perhaps showing some Churchillian resolve of their own, Jamie, 50, and Eda, 51, have decided enough is enough and have launched a multi-million-pound legal battle following the invasion.
But it’s not the travellers that they have set their sights on.
Instead, they have issued proceedings against Paul and Elizabeth Nott – claiming they have been the victims of a wicked deception at the hands of the former owners.
Jamie – who until recently was the deputy chief executive of one of the UK’s leading construction businesses that specialise in healthcare – and his wife have accused the Notts of ‘fraudulent misrepresentation and deceit’ over the sale of the property.
They claim the vendors knew all along that travellers were plotting to set up home on the site, but deliberately hid this from them so they could escape the upcoming mayhem and cash in on the sale of their home.
The Pierces allege that before buying their new home they had specifically enquired as to whether the Notts were aware of ‘any plans to alter, develop or change the use of any neighbouring land within a quarter of a mile’ of the property.
They claim the Notts’ solicitor told their lawyer: ‘Not to our clients’ knowledge’.
The couple say the declaration was false – and the Notts knew it.
They now appear to have turned detectives and have uncovered a series of emails which allegedly reveal that Paul Nott played a key role in an unsuccessful campaign to try to head off the threat of travellers buying the land – dating back to the summer of 2021.
He and another local resident had even tried to buy the plot of land themselves after it was put up for sale.
Issuing a writ at the High Court, the Pierces insist they would never have bought the property if they had been told the truth.
They now claim their home, which has been turned into a fortress – bristling with security cameras along with high wooden gates and warning signs – is worthless.
The couple want their contract of sale ripped up and want to be put back into the position they would have been in had they not bought the house.
They are seeking the return of the £3.15million, along with all sums they have spent on the house as well as damages for deceit, interest and expenses including legal fees and stamp duty.
The sprawling five-bedroom house in a quiet village even had its own helipad and looked to be the perfect place for the successful couple to establish a family home
Eda and Jamie Pierce are suing the Notts for damages in the High Court after travellers moved into the field opposite the home they bought three years ago
The Notts – who now live in a £1.5million six-bedroom modern home around five miles away – have yet to file a response to the writ.
Legal documents obtained by Our News Outlet reveal how a neighbour of the Notts first raised concerns in 2021 about the sale of the agricultural plot known as Seasons Farm, which is surrounded on three sides by land owned by the National Trust.
In an email to other locals, the neighbour wrote: ‘Just a heads-up, as we live opposite the gate to Seasons Farm, we can see that there are viewings of the land going on several times a day now, some with the estate agent but most without.
‘Worryingly, most of the viewers look quite suspicious, especially those without the estate agent in attendance.’
The documents state that in September 2021, Mr Nott and another member of the local community offered to buy the farm from the then owner ‘to protect the plot from unwanted development’.
Their offer was rejected and the land was sold in October 2021 to Patrick Delaney, who is said to have connections with the traveller community.
He allegedly refused to provide assurances that the land would not be used for traveller homes, and locals insisted he had previously been involved in the development of agricultural land for the use of travelling communities.
Local meetings were held and Mr Nott is said to have been at the head of an email chain sent by one resident calling for a residents’ group to be set up to ‘deal with planning, the politicians and Patrick Delaney’.
Mr Nott allegedly replied: ‘This is a concerning situation, forming a residents association would be the best way forward so please count me in.’
He also received an email from local planners saying Mr Delaney planned to submit an application for development and was included in a further group message to local MP Laura Trott.
Mr Nott was said to be a founder member of the Pootings Residents’ Association, which was set up to fight the development and that he and his wife attended the group’s formation meeting in February 2022.
Shortly afterwards, approaches were made to a leading barrister who specialises in planning issues to ‘advise and act’ in a bid ‘to defeat the development proposals’.
At the same time, in the spring of 2022, the couple put their home up for sale, the writ claims.
Setting out the Pierces’ claim, their barrister, Jonathan Seitler KC, wrote: ‘Had the defendants not made the false representation and had instead confirmed that the owner of Seasons Farm was likely to have and to make development proposals, the claimants would not have purchased the property.
‘They had no intention of purchasing property which was adjacent to land used by the travellers’ community.’
Mr Delaney went on to put in the first of four unsuccessful bids to change the use of Seasons Farm from agricultural to residential just months after the couple moved into their new home.
In July 2025, he sold the land to the four traveller families – who went on to transform the site into a caravan park within 48 hours after their ‘cynical’ bank holiday raid.
Horrified residents told how, on the day they descended on the site, large convoys of vehicles continued to arrive through the night as frantic construction work was accompanied by ‘flashing lights and loud hailers’.
One local complained the invasion created ‘wholly unacceptable levels of noise and disturbance, leaving nearby residents feeling intimidated, distressed, and powerless to intervene’.
The Pierces allege that the Notts (pictured) were aware that the land opposite their home had been bought by a businessman linked to the traveller community and knew there was a risk of travellers moving onto it
The Pierces allege that before buying their new home they had specifically enquired as to whether the Notts were aware of ‘any plans to alter, develop or change the use of any neighbouring land within a quarter of a mile’ of the property
They added: ‘Any attempts to challenge the activity were met with intimidation.’
By the time a High Court injunction was served on the Sunday morning, the majority of the works had been completed and the families, including 16 children, were quickly installed in their new homes.
Locals say the travellers’ arrival in Pootings – which had been home to 60 residents living in 27 properties – increased the number of dwellings by 44 per cent and the number of people living there by 38 per cent overnight.
A series of legal actions followed while members of the group were found in May this year to be in contempt of court for defying court orders and continuing work on the site.
The same month, a retrospective planning application by the travellers for permission to develop the site was rejected by Sevenoaks District Council.
One local who objected to the development said: ‘Granting planning permission of any kind would be tantamount to endorsement of loutish, anti-social behaviour.
‘If this applicant “gets away” with retrospective permission, why can’t we all behave like that to get what we want?’
Residents insist their lives continue to be blighted by the camp, saying they have suffered ‘significant harm’.
Locals say they have been plagued by ‘persistent noise from machinery and quad bikes, often at unsociable hours’, while complaining of powerful ‘intrusive’ floodlighting at the site that ‘is never turned off at night’.
It’s all a far cry from the quiet and peaceful sanctuary that Jamie and Eda Pierce sought when they bought their new home.
The Notts declined to comment when contacted by the Mail last week.
