Neighbour row erupts over £7.5m Grand Designs castle likened to Nazi fortress: 'Most disgusting vainglorious thing I've ever seen!'

It began with the purchase of an existing castle for a cool £1.4million, only to promptly pull it down and craft a palace of their own, but the ambitious plans have been met with fierce criticism by locals.

It's "brutalist" brickwork meant the new-build was likened to "soviet construction" and a "prison", while other neighbours simply described the building as "disgusting".

The daring build is this week's feature on Channel 4's Grand Designs, but even left host Kevin McCloud struggling for words.

"People, when they build, they build their castles of their dreams," Mr McCloud said on the show. "But who in their right mind would bother trying to build a real, proper castle these days?"

On the eve of the new-build's television debut, locals gathered in the village hall, but the unveiling fell far short of expectations and was met with gasps of shock and horror.

Jo Broadrick, a local resident, detailed the moment those who had gathered saw the building to the Daily Mail: "A lot of people around here have very strong opinions about the place.

"Some say it looks like a prison, whereas most people say it's like a car park.

"A few of us got together to watch Grand Designs in the village hall on a big screen last night. We all took a bottle of wine or a few beers and made a night of it.

"There were lots of gasps, especially about how much the whole project had cost.

"Someone said Mrs Greg, the owner of the White Castle Folly, would turn in her grave if she could see what they had done."

Mr McCloud reiterated his concerns to Mr Daniell and wife Emma, telling them in no uncertain terms: "You'd have to be out of your mind to build something like this."

The ambitious plan was dubbed "the biggest self-build project" in the show's 26-year history, and it is likely to cost close to £7.5million - three times the original budget.

By the time the show aired, the couple had already splashed £5million on the extraordinary property, but that had only stretched to a completed, luxurious kitchen, and the outer shell of the building.

It left neighbours and local residents simply aghast at what the previously historic 17th-century castle had made way for.

"It looks just like a car park," retired building contractor John Clarke despaired. "I don't know how he got planning permission to build it.

"There's not a lot they can do with it, and I don't know how they can afford to live there."

Mr Clarke added that Mr Daniell had been "on the parish council at one point", which he suggested could be the reason they were allowed to undertake the ambitious project.

"I lived here for 42 years, and the village has never seen anything like it," he declared.

The first castle to have been built in the UK for nearly 100 years.

Whilst there is still a lot of work to do, Piers and Emma's fortification promises to be absolutely monumental. #GrandDesigns pic.twitter.com/oEoI3REAAd

— granddesigns (@granddesigns) October 30, 2025

Local resident Sonia King described the building as "terrible", comparing it to a "multi-storey car park".

"We were shown plans of the castle before it went ahead and I'm not sure they are the same as what has been built," she continued.

"I would like to know how he got planning permission.

"I'd like to walk up there and take a close look, but I'd probably have a heart attack!"

One member of the community, who requested to remain anonymous, did not mince their words when speaking to the Daily Mail: "It's a vanity project. It's the most disgusting vainglorious thing I've ever seen.

"It's not a castle, it is a folly, and the £7.5million that has been spent creating it is a terrible waste of the planet's resources. It's absolutely bonkers."

And it has not benefited the local community one jot. It is nothing more than a brutalist, soviet construction, something akin to the Atlantic Wall."

Viewers online couldn't hide their displeasure either, with one fan taking to social media, writing: "There is a reason castles were built way back in the past, they had beauty, this is just ugly."

Another said: "It looks like a WW2 bunker. Is there a gun emplacement on the roof?"