The chatelaine, the £230 debt ... and the most bloody of battles for Knockderry Castle
Extraordinary story of how a tiny disputed bill ended up in court... and left a woman claiming a miscarriage of justice – and f ighting to save her home
IF the old stone walls of Knockderry Castle could talk, they would surely weave a spellbinding story of the statesmen, soldiers, industrialists and billionaires who have passed through the building’s magnificent pillared doorway. Perhaps they would tell how Charles de Gaulle, president of France, came to visit the Free French forces, using the castle as a hospital, during the Second World War. Or perhaps they would proudly recall Scots-born American tycoon and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie sitting in the drawing room, drafting a radical plan to help educate working class Scots by funding free libraries.
Maybe they would even boast about the litany of famous architects who designed, built and remodelled the grand turrets, dramatic balustrades and sweeping stairways.
Yet none of the historic tales the walls have witnessed could be as bizarre as the 21st-century story of the current occupant – and her battle to keep calling Knockderry her home.
For, incredibly, Marian van Overwaele is facing eviction from the £3 million castle – all for the sake of a contested debt worth just £230.
Stretching back 21 years, the chatelaine’s saga has seen her modest debt spiral and drive her into bankruptcy, as her repeated legal challenges have racked up ever-greater fees and expenses.
The authorities are determined that the story can only have one ending – Mrs van Overwaele being removed from Knockderry.
But more than two decades after the battle began, the 70-year-old businesswoman is equally determined that, as a matter of principle, she will never give in and will remain in her home.
And even after the latest setback – a ruling delivered at the end of last month by judges at the Court of Session – she insists that she is the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
Holed up in her castle, with bundles of paperwork she claims prove her case, she spoke exclusively to The Scottish Mail on Sunday about why she is refusing to leave.
Mrs van Overwaele – known as Mary – said: ‘This is my home. I will be appealing against the decision again, but I am very worried that the house will be taken.
‘I am 45 years in Scotland now, my life is here. It has affected me very badly and I don’t want to cry – I have cried enough.
‘Sometimes I wake during the night and pray, “Please let this be a dream, or a nightmare and not a true story”.’
Mrs van Overwaele, of Lebanese descent, first moved to Scotland 45 years ago with her Belgian husband – and fell in love with Knockderry, the fairytale castle in which they dreamed of building their life together.
Designed by architect Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson in the 1850s, the castle stands above the shores of Loch Long in the village of Cove, in Argyllshire. Three storeys high, the mansion is built from whinstone and sandstone rubble, with polished sandstone margins and dressings.
A-listed on account of the exceptional Leiperian interior – considered one of the finest of its style in Scotland – it boasts a corbelled cornice, Jacobethan detailing and turrets, with candlesnuffer roofs.
Mrs van Overwaele recalled that, on her first visit to the castle, it was love at first sight, despite its slightly rundown condition. She said: ‘My husband had friends here who knew who was selling the castle. It needed a lot of work done, we did a lot and work is still being carried out.’
After the death of her husband, she lived at the castle alone but was later joined by her brother, George Amil, and other family members who now share the building and let out some apartments within it on Airbnb.
The seeds of the current battle were sown during the 1990s when Mrs van Overwaele ran a successful bridalwear business in nearby Helensburgh. In 1997, she was first pursued for a £230 bill in relation to factor’s fees.
She denies the bill was ever intended for her and should have been directed to the business next door, but the factor company pursued her for the money and, alongside court expenses, the debt rose to more than £1,500.
In 2000, she was sequestrated and a trustee was appointed, although the pensioner alleges this was done unlawfully and that all money has been settled. Four years ago, the current trustee, George Lafferty, took over the matter and he is now working to have her evicted.
From the outset, Mrs van Overwaele has tried unsuccessfully to have the trustee removed, repeatedly appealing decisions at the Court of Session and House of Lords. She even launched a counterclaim, unsuccessfully trying to sue for money she said she lost from her business.
In the most recent development, judges upheld an earlier decision to allow Mr Lafferty to evict the family and take control of the castle and the 10-acre grounds.
Now, in a last ditch-attempt to win the case, she revealed she is not giving up and is preparing to appeal to the Supreme Court. She said: ‘This has been going on for 21 years – it is a miscarriage of justice. I can’t believe this has happened to me in the country I live in, they have taken advantage of me because I am foreign.’
Mrs van Overwaele refuses to give up her home and says millions of pounds have been spent on the process over the two decades, claiming she has been let down by the legal system. She has been accused of trying to ‘frustrate’ the trustee by moving and transferring assets.
Mrs van Overwaele claimed she sold her bridal shop, but that the solicitor dealing with the sale did not finalise the matter and the title deeds remained in her name, an issue which later caused problems for her brother, who subsequently operated a bridal business similar to hers at the premises.
She said: ‘They broke into the shop and stole his stock. Everyone connected to me has had problems and it is nothing to do with them.’
The court understands Mrs van Overwaele transferred Knockderry to
This has been going on for 21 years – it has affected me very badly
her brother in 2009 in an effort to evade her debt. However, she insists she legitimately sold the property to Mr Amil and that there was nothing underhand about it.
In March this year, the siblings were due to give evidence at the Court of Session, where they were trying to have Mr Lafferty removed, but they didn’t appear after telling the court they were unwell. Judges decided that they failed to attend ‘without proper excuse’ and ruled against them. However, Mrs van Overwaele insisted she was too ill to go and was initially concerned she had Covid.
She described having sickness and diarrhoea and that the doctor she spoke to offered to write a note explaining that she was too unwell.
She said: ‘My doctor told me, “If you still have this sickness and diarrhoea and the court is in Edinburgh, how are you going to manage?” She told me she could make a letter explaining my situation and I sent it the same day to the court.
‘It was the proof hearing to get Mr Lafferty removed as trustee. I wish I could have gone because we have all the proof and we could face him with it.’
Determined to prove she had been wronged, Mrs van Overwaele and her brother appealed to judges in June, arguing that making a decision without them being present was against their human rights.
Believing that the case was ‘dismissed’ by the judges at that point and that the matter had been brought to an end, she was shocked to hear last month that the eviction is still a possibility. If her latest attempt at an appeal is rejected, she and her family will be evicted.
Mrs van Overwaele said: ‘The court are allowing this eviction. If there is a creditor, I am willing to pay him and his fees if he is elected lawfully, but Mr Lafferty is not. I have no assets.
‘We are very upset and we cannot believe this. This is the real story.’
As the case continues, the walls of Knockderry – grown accustomed to drama over the centuries – wait patiently for the next chapter of the castle’s history to be written.