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Bats put brakes on Richard Hammond’s plans for £2m Welsh estate

06 Sep 2026 4 minute read

Richard Hammond (Sikander Iqbal, CC BY-SA 4.0.) with the barn buildings (Mortimer Environmental Bat Survey, Monmouthshire County Council planning portal) and the Common Pipistrelle (john.purvis, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.)

Nation.Cymru Staff

Plans by former Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond to transform part of his £2 million Welsh estate have hit an unexpected obstacle after eight species of bat were recorded at the property.

The mansion, complete with tennis courts, wine cellar, a lake and an orangery, is situated in Llanwenarth on the outskirts of Abergavenny.

Estate agents Savills said of the £2 million property that was purchased in cash: “The Pentre is a commanding example of Georgian architecture that offers a striking profile in luminous white painted faced stone…

“The listed building status notes The Pentre’s pretty parkland setting on a gentle ridge of the lower hillsides of Sugar Loaf with vineyards and woodland as some of your neighbours. The house is surrounded by about 21 acres of the former historic farm estate, with views across the River Usk valley to the Blorenge, the area’s rustic landscape begins to unfold right in front of you.

“There is majestic scale to The Pentre throughout. It is a patchwork of timeless period grandeur and a testament to the recent passage of time and interior trends as a family home.”

On 6 August, five months after purchasing the property, an agent on behalf of Hammond submitted a planning application to Monmouthshire County Council requesting permission to renovate the manor.

The application includes extensions and alterations to the house, a glazed porch, a new garage for his collection of “important, historic and specialist” cars, and a padel court and pavilion to replace the existing tennis court.

The accompanying heritage statement says the wider scheme is intended to adapt the Grade II-listed property for modern family life while restoring some historic features.

Part of the second floor would also be divided to create new bedrooms, with planning documents stating that Hammond intends to use the property as a base for a media production company, which will require accommodation for crews while filming at the estate and nearby.

However, as reported by South Wales Argus, the plans have encountered an unusual complication after an ecological survey carried out ahead of the proposed work recorded a “diverse assemblage” of eight species of bat at the estate.

Bats and their roosts are legally protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, and bat surveys are sometimes required as part of the planning process.

These surveys establish whether bats are roosting at a site, identify their activity and feeding or commuting routes, and recommend measures to reduce the impact of development on the protected wildlife.

In Hammond’s case, a bat survey filed on 25 August recorded moderate levels of bat activity around the barn complex, with eight species observed on the property, which was noted as providing “essential foraging and commuting resources to local bat populations”.

Ecologists from Mortimer Environmental also confirmed three roosts within the buildings that Hammond intends to convert for vehicle storage and maintenance, used by common pipistrelles and a brown long-eared bat.

They recommended installing temporary bat boxes before work begins, incorporating new roosting spaces into the redeveloped buildings, and limiting disturbance while construction takes place.

The report concluded that a protected species development licence from Natural Resources Wales will be required before the barn conversion can lawfully proceed, alongside measures to protect the bats and compensate for the potential loss or disturbance of their roosts.

Despite the setback, Hammond remained positive, telling the BBC: “You don’t move somewhere as beautiful as this and expect to stamp out everything that already lives there… I’m sure there’s room for the bats and me in Abergavenny.”

He continued: “I’m very lucky in that most of what I’m having to do is just make it fit for my lifestyle rather than repair it. So it could be a long project. It’s not going to be finished in a month or two.

“I’ll do nothing to change the look of the place. Why would I? You don’t buy something beautiful and then deface it.”

The BBC reported that Hammond confirmed he would seek the necessary licence to continue with the renovations, although NRW had received no application as of 5 September.

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