A BRITISH MILLIONAIRE has been fined £300,000 for using children’s tombstones as decorations.
Kim Gregory Davies was found guilty of illegally modernising the Grade II listed Llanwenarth House in Wales, the home which inspired the hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful.
Following a hearing at Newport Crown Court Davies has been told by a judge to fork out £300,000 – or go to jail.
Prosecutors acting on behalf of the National Parks Trust in the UK claimed that Davies had put in a jacuzzi, ripped up flooring and removed old timber windows as well as removing Regency features of the house and replacing them with mock-Tudor designs, The Guardian reports.
The court was also told that the house had wall plaques made from the headstones of three children who died 100 years ago.
Listed building specialist Michael Davies told the court that the alterations were the worst he’s ever seen.
“Most of what was originally in that property had been stripped out and dumped. Layers of history were ripped out and discarded. The impact of the works has been immensely damaging.”
Davies must pay a fine of £60,000 by September 15 and £240,000 of the prosecution’s bill, despite claiming he had saved the building from ruin.
The Georgian-style manor in the picturesque Usk Valley, south Wales, is where Irish composer Cecil Alexander is thought to have written the lyrics to the famous song.
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