CARETAKER WHO GAVE AWAY £5M ARTEFACT WAS SACKED

Dismissal procedure ‘unfair’ tribunal hears

A BUNGLING caretaker at a stately home who gave away a rare Tudor artefact believed to be worth millions of pounds was later sacked, it has been revealed.

Brian Wilson, who was living in a caravan in the grounds of Seighford Hall near Stafford, let Andrew Potter take the ‘decorative piece of wood’ bearing the royal coat of arms of Queen Elizabeth I, an employment tribunal heard.

The oak overmantel, right, which was removed from the Grade Ii-listed building in 2020, was said to be ‘rotten and ‘riddled with wood worm and dry rot’. The antique, thought to be more than 400 years old, was valued at up to £5 million.

It was listed for sale last year but Stafford Borough Council stepped in to halt proceedings with an interim injunction. The authority said there had been no listed building consent granted for the removal of the overmantel, which is considered one of the hall’s integral fixtures and fittings.

Action to seek a full injunction was later dropped by the council after all parties were made aware that it would be an offence to sell the overmantel under the Dealing in Cultural Objects (offences) Act.

Mr Wilson had first been employed at Seighford Hall when it was used as a nursing home. It ceased operating in 1998 and Mr Wilson was kept on at the site ‘to deal with any security and maintenance issues’, the tribunal judgement stated.

In late 2020 he was invited by Thomas Butler, then managing director, to an investigation relating to the handing over of the overmantel without authorisation, sale of two fireplaces without authorisation and the sale of a tractor without permission.

Mr Wilson did not attend the investigation and said he did not receive the invitation. Further invitations were sent using the same delivery method, and later an invitation to a disciplinary hearing. Mr Wilson did not attend these meetings and the hearing took place in his absence. He was found to have committed gross misconduct and was dismissed without notice.

Employment Judge Kate Hindmarch said that the dismissal had been ‘procedurally unfair’. Her judgement stated: “I have identified procedural failings in that the First Respondent (Seighford Hall Nursing Home Ltd) did not make sufficient attempts to notify the claimant (Mr Wilson) of the disciplinary process and therefore he was offered no opportunity to attend the disciplinary hearing and offer his explanation for the alleged misconduct.

“The claimant admitted he removed this historic artefact from the hall and admitted letting a Mr Potter take it. The claimant suggests the overmantel was in very poor repair, however he accepts as a listed building, proper consent needed to be given for removal of artefacts and that the condition of the overmantel revealed after its recovery (and its value) do not support a contention that it was in poor repair.”

Seighford Hall, which dates back to the 16th century, is believed to have been gifted by Queen Elizabeth I to Richard Eld in the 1590s as a reward for his services as paymaster. The overmantel bears the last Tudor monarch’s coat of arms and was displayed over a fireplace at the hall.