\n Richard Gray has spoken on the issue. (Image: Emma Trimble \/ SWNS)\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Gray said the grand tree had even been billed as a selling point for potential buyers when the couple bought The Old Parsonage in 1982.\n<\/p>\n
\n But now the Diocese of Coventry is demanding that the tree be chopped down, or a root barrier costing \u00a370,000 will be installed.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Legal agents working for the 12th-century church’s insurers say it will seek to reclaim the eye-watering amount from the pair, leaving them disgusted.\n<\/p>\n
\n Grandfather-of-six Mr Gray said: \u00a0\u201cThe irony is unbelievable.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Here\u2019s an organisation which is supposed to have pastoral care and love thy neighbour, and then they say take this tree down or we\u2019ll charge you \u00a370,000.\n<\/p>\n
\n READ MORE:\u00a0The 20 best Cotswolds pubs in Oxfordshire including Jeremy Clarkson’s<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n \n “To have a threatening letter sent out of the blue by the church doesn’t seem to fit into their Christian ethos for me when they are a spiritual organisation supposedly looking out for the local community.\n<\/p>\n \n “And then there’s the environmental impact too, the tree is 250 years old and a citadel of invertebrates, insects and animals.\n<\/p>\n \n “It doesn’t seem to fit with the church philosophy of ‘All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small’ if they are going to destroy a historic tree\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cThere’s been no knock at the door or anyone coming around to talk about this.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n “I think they\u2019ve arranged one of the biggest solicitors in the country to act on their behalf, too. The vicar hasn\u2019t shown his face and is yet to say anything.\n<\/p>\n \n READ MORE:\u00a0The three prettiest Cotswolds towns in Oxfordshire revealed<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n \n “I think they should adopt a positive attitude towards trees and their benefit to parishioners and do their utmost to save trees, not kill them.\n<\/p>\n \n “So here we are locking horns with an organisation that’s supposed to have the pastoral care of the community in their hands, and it’s doing exactly the opposite.\n<\/p>\n \n “We’re not going to pay, and we’re not going to take it down, and the church is still threatening to send us this rather large bill.”\n<\/p>\n \n The Diocese of Coventry decided to divide the plot to create space for the new-build vicarage back in the early 1980s.\n<\/p>\n \n It sold the original home and its remaining garden into private ownership, and the pair, who separated but remain close friends, were the second people to privately own it.\n<\/p>\n \n READ MORE:\u00a0Jeremy Clarkson told US Secret Service to ‘f*** off’ during JD Vance visit<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n \n But now the diocese claims the tree\u2019s roots have caused subsidence and are demanding it is chopped down \u2013 or it will install a root barrier costing \u00a369,768.88, plus VAT.\n<\/p>\n \n But in a separate report from January 2023, Mr Gray says engineers working for the diocese deemed the tree not to be at fault, blaming hot weather for the subsidence.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n Mr Gray,\u00a0a retired inventor, added: \u201cTheir own engineers’ initial report said this large tree was not the cause, and that it was likely the hot weather.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n “I said the report said it wasn\u2019t the tree, but they haven\u2019t acknowledged this fact.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cI\u2019ve done a bit of research, and it\u2019s a moderate risk tree, so it\u2019s not a high risk tree.\n<\/p>\n \n READ MORE:\u00a0City gets tourist boom after Oxford University Netflix film<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n \n \u201cSycamores reach their maximum mass after 100 years.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n “So when they built the parsonage in their own garden, it was already 100 years into its maturity and getting slightly smaller.”\n<\/p>\n \n The affected new vicarage also suffered a burst mains pipe, which flooded the property with 13,000 gallons of water daily for three days.\n<\/p>\n \n Mr Gray says the damage maps are all centred around the water tank – and that it’s the likely culprit instead of the tree.\n<\/p>\n \n The 76-year-old added: “The damage was right underneath the water tank, and my friends in the church have pointed out that most of the damage is inside the new vicarage.\n<\/p>\n \n READ MORE:\u00a0Robbie Williams buys \u00a330m mansion near Sir David Beckham<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n \n “And if you look at their engineers’ drawings, it shows nothing on the outside which could have possibly been caused by this tree.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cThe old Reverend, Rev Morgan, noted that there were no cracks or major damage. The only place in the house that has cracks is on a wall, the furthest away from the tree.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cThey owned the tree when they built the new vicarage there. They sold it as part of the property and even featured it as a benefit.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cOur house has been there for 200-odd years, and it has no damage at all. It\u2019s a stable part of a stable environment.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cAll the walls that cracked are the ones right underneath where the water tank had burst – 13,000 gallons a day for three days is significant.\n<\/p>\n \n READ MORE:\u00a0Clarkson’s Farm vies with Gogglebox for National TV Award<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n \n \u201cThey want us to pay the cost of the repairs, essentially. There\u2019s nobody living in it. It\u2019s been relatively unoccupied since 2016.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n “The garden is like a jungle, doors have gone rotten. It\u2019s neglected, a bit like they are now neglecting the community.\n<\/p>\n \n “There’s talk of them selling it, so if they are also putting profit first, that isn’t very Christian-like either.”\n<\/p>\n \n The tree is named after the nearby Four Shire stone signifying the borders of the four Cotswolds counties: Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire.\n<\/p>\n \n The church itself is known locally as the “Cathedral of the Feldon” as one of the biggest and “most beautiful” in the county of Warwickshire.\n<\/p>\n \n READ MORE:\u00a0Jeremy Clarkson brutally ridicules JD Vance protestors in the Cotswolds<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n Help support trusted local news\n<\/p>\nThe sycamore tree that is believed to have stood for 250 years in Lower Brailes. (Image: Emma Trimble \/ SWNS)\n<\/p>\n
The nearby church in the village. (Image: Emma Trimble \/ SWNS)\n<\/p>\n
Richard Gray is trying to save the tree in the village on the Oxfordshire border. (Image: Emma Trimble \/ SWNS)\n<\/p>\n
Richard Gray pictured with the tree and his home in the Cotswolds. (Image: Emma Trimble \/ SWNS)\n<\/p>\n
Richard Gray with the ancient sycamore tree in Warwickshire. (Image: Emma Trimble \/ SWNS)\n<\/p>\n
The village of Lower Brailes. (Image: Emma Trimble \/ SWNS)\n<\/p>\n