![\"Pippa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/pippa-middleton-and-husband-james-matthews.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLocal residents in the West Berkshire village of Pippa Middleton and husband James Matthews’s luxurious \u00a315million estate have continued to vent their frustration after a countryside walking route was shut.<\/p>\n
The row centres on Mill Lane, a pathway that villagers claim they have trailed on freely for generations to reach footpaths, the centre of Kintbury village, and St Mary’s Church.<\/p>\n
The 44-year-old hedge fund manager acquired the Barton Court estate, a Grade II-listed Georgian mansion spanning more than 100 acres along the River Kennet, in 2022.<\/p>\n
Pippa, and their three children, Arthur, seven, Grace, five, and Rose, three, moved in shortly after.<\/p>\n
Access was swiftly restricted. The couple erected electric gates controlled by keypad, accompanied by signs declaring the route private property.<\/p>\n
Since then, residents in the surrounding area have been angered by the “inconsiderate” couple.<\/p>\n
One furious local declared the pair “not very popular,” and another told the Daily Mail they believe they “think they’re a bit better than everyone else”.<\/p>\n
“They\u2019re not even the proper Royal Family,” another local remarked.<\/p>\n
Local residents in the West Berkshire village of Pippa Middleton and husband James Matthews’s luxurious \u00a315million estate have continued to vent their frustration after a countryside walking route was shut<\/p>\n
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GETTY<\/p>\n
The concreted track, known affectionately as “The Avenue” or “Donkey Lane,” runs through the family’s 145-acre grounds.<\/p>\n
The closure has sparked serious safety concerns among residents, who now face a treacherous alternative along Station Road.<\/p>\n
The narrow country lane features blind bends, no pavement and heavy goods vehicles travelling at considerable speed.<\/p>\n
Charles Robins, a 72-year-old neighbour, warned: “I feel it will only be a matter of time before there’s a serious or fatal accident involving a pedestrian.”<\/p>\n
![\"Barton](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/barton-court-estate.png\")
The dispute has “split” the village, locals say, with some villagers more than happy for the footpath to remain shut.<\/p>\n
“I am very happy for them to do what they want with their land,” one resident told the paper. “There are plenty of places to walk around here.”<\/p>\n
“If the owner feels generous, then they would let the villagers use it, but if they want to be strict, I can understand that,” another added.<\/p>\n
West Berkshire Ramblers, however, a group of 35 walking enthusiasts, successfully petitioned the council in 2024 to have the lane officially designated a public right of way.<\/p>\n
Eugene Futcher, chairman of the group, told The Times: “It is a safe way to get to and from the village, so walkers are put at risk if they have to use the road.”<\/p>\n
The Matthews family has contested this ruling through a London barrister, and both parties will present their cases at a public hearing scheduled for next month.<\/p>\n
The controversy has attracted attention from The Ramblers charity, which views the situation as symptomatic of a nationwide problem.<\/p>\n
Sophie Redmond, Programme Manager for Paths, noted that “thousands of miles of local paths are missing, blocked or unusable” across Britain.<\/p>\n
GB News has approached the Barton Court Estate for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Local residents in the West Berkshire village of Pippa Middleton and husband James Matthews’s luxurious \u00a315million estate have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":527175,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,98794,1852,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-527174","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-pippa-middleton","11":"tag-royal","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}