A castle owned by one of the UK’s most colourful millionaires is up for sale – after being taken over by receivers.
Caverswall Castle is a stunning Grade I-listed property built in the late 13th century on the site of an Anglo-Saxon manor.
It is one of the few remaining castles in England that is still surrounded by a moat.
Owned by property tycoon Robin MacDonald, 48, he purchased the crumbling castle, near Stoke-on-Trent, for £1.7 million in 2006.
Five years ago, he put the property on the market for £3million as he wanted to "downsize" to a smaller home for his wife and three children.
But he was unable to sell the property and in August 2014 he was fined £17,000 and ordered to pay almost £100,000 after admitting breaching an abatement order.
Read more of today's stories here
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard Mr MacDonald staged large parties, including team-building exercises, weddings and firework displays in the castle's sprawling 20-acre grounds.
The court also heard he billed the castle as a dream wedding venue but it turned sour for 78 couples who had their bookings cancelled when the company running it went bust.
The castle, which costs £12,000-a-year in energy and water bills, has now been taken over by Joint LPA receivers.
It went back on the market on Monday with no guide price amid concerns it could be sold for a knock-down sum.
Sholom Cohen, from Avison Young Estate Agents, said: “We’re excited to bring to the market such a rare and attractive property.
“We anticipate it will either be purchased by a hotel and wedding operator, or simply as a high-value residence.”
Companies House records show Mr MacDonald’s Caverswall Castle Ltd had gone into liquidation.
Meanwhile another company, Historic Holiday Homes Ltd, which he also ran from the castle, had a ‘Receiver Action’ status against it.
Speaking previously, Mr MacDonald said he regretted buying the castle.
He said: “I didn’t want to look back in years to come and think ‘I could have bought that’.
“I was a very proud young man when I got the keys.
“Maybe now, I would speak to that young man and advise him to stand back and think a little. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.”
He added that local residents took an instant dislike to him because of his background.
Speaking in 2017, he added: “A 35-year-old turning up, buying and owning this? If I’d have inherited it, it might have been totally different.
“In their eyes I was a kid, with the label ‘property developer’ attached, from Manchester – ‘We don’t want that sort round here buying our castle’.
“If I’d been mid-70s, from the Staffordshire Moorlands and done quite well in business they wouldn’t have batted an eyelid. It would have been ‘oh great, one of our own.’
“Actually, I wasn’t a property developer – I was a landlord. I wasn’t bulldozing ancient Indian burial grounds to make way for runways.”
The earliest recorded owner was Emuf de Hesing, who passed it to Sir William de Caverswall who incorporated the tributaries to form the moat.
Sir William then built towers within its outer walls.
It fell into decay until 1625 when it was bought by a wealthy merchant and rebuilt as a Jacobean mansion.
The castle has three turrets, 18 bedrooms, nine reception rooms, 13 bathrooms, a billiard room, dungeon and a library with a Wedgwood ceiling.
Sir Percival Radcliffe owned the castle in the middle of the 19th century and drained the moat, creating stunning gardens.
By 1891, the castle had been bought by Mr W E Bowers, who owned it for 40 years and added a wing that is now a separate home.
Get breaking news first on the free Manchester Evening News app - download it here for your Apple or Android device. You can also get a round-up of the biggest stories sent direct to your inbox every day with the MEN email newsletter - subscribe here. And you can follow us on Facebook here
