Jersey dolmen forces James Corden to scrap luxury pool house plan

Tuesday 07 February 2023

James Corden has been forced to scrap plans for a new pool house during a rebuild of his £8.5m home – as it was too close to a historic Jersey monument which previously sparked a repatriation row.

The monument, listed by Historic England as 'The Druid Temple', is a collection of 45 megalithic stones which were originally found near Mont de la Ville in St. Helier.

In 1787, the temple was presented by islanders to Field-Marshal the Honourable Henry Seymour Conway when he was Governor of Jersey.

Pictured: James Corden and his wife, Julia Carey, paid £8.5million for the property in 2020.

Described as 'Little Master Stonehenge', Field Marshall Conway received the gift as a sign of thanks for helping the island construct defensive towers to prevent a French invasion.

The now Grade II-listed monument currently resides in celebrity James Corden's 43-acre home in Wokingham.

Mr Corden acquired the Mont de la Ville dolmen when he purchased Templecombe House in Henley-On-Thames at the end of 2020.

He is expected to move in to the property when he returns to the UK later this year after quitting the Late Late Show in America.

Pictured: The Druid Temple has been described as "Little Master Stonehenge".

Earlier this month, the star was granted planning permission by Wokingham Borough Council to demolish the old home and pool house and replace it with a new six bedroom property.

However, planning documents reveal that Mr Corden had also originally wanted both a new indoor and outdoor swimming pool, yoga studio, gym, terrace, massage room, steam room and sauna included in the renovation.

In his report, Planning Officer Simon Taylor explained that "these aspects of the scheme" had been "deleted from the current application to allow the application to proceed to Planning Committee for determination".

He added that it "is possible that the pool house and outdoor swimming pool will come forward in a future planning application to be considered at that time.”

Pictured: The now Grade II-listed monument currently resides in the grounds of James Corden's 43-acre home in Wokingham.

It was the pool house in particular that English Heritage deemed to be too close to The Druid Temple in the Grade II-listed grounds.

Mr Taylor said that it was initially planned for the pool house to be "reduced in size and relocated further north due to harm to the setting of the Druid’s Temple".

However, It was then removed from the proposal altogether as "its relocation posed issues for existing trees, and the resulting potential for impact upon the registered park and garden". 

The Wokingham Borough planning committee unanimously approved the amended application with a number of conditions during a meeting on 11 January.

Pictured: The current Templecombe House - which is soon to be demolished - is barely visible from the site of the dolmen.

The question that remains is whether Mr Corden will now want to take up an offer from the Jersey Government to have the historical stones repatriated back to Jersey – a suggestion originally made two years ago.

In 2021, officials in Jersey were hoping to return the monument back to the island and would seek support from the television presenter.

It was reported that then-Assistant Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel, who had political responsibility for culture, was considering writing to Mr Corden asking if the stones could be repatriated to Jersey.

Pictured: Kirsten Morel was the Minister responsible for culture in 2021.

Deputy Morel said that he would like to "continue to look into the project" of rehousing the dolmen in Jersey. He told the JEP in 2021 that there was "a long way to go" before the request might become reality, especially as the structure has Grade II-listed status.

It is understood that planning permission for any removal would have to be given by the Wokingham Borough Council, and this has currently not been applied for.