TV presenter and actor James Corden has said he would support an attempt to return a prehistoric monument currently in his back garden to Jersey – although its protected status in the UK could make that impossible.
The Gavin and Stacey star acquired the Mont de la Ville dolmen – discovered in Jersey more than 200 years ago – when he purchased Templecombe House in Oxfordshire in 2020.
Mr Corden and his wife, Julia, paid £8.5 million for the property near Henley-on-Thames, becoming owners of a 43-acre estate that includes the ancient monument.
Jersey Heritage has previously said that while it would, in theory, welcome a bid to return the stones to the Island, the dolmen cannot easily be moved due to its status as a listed structure.
Given that designation, any removal would require planning permission from the relevant local authority – in this case, Wokingham Borough Council – although Mr Corden has said he would be happy to assist in any proposed move.
A spokesperson for the Cordens said yesterday: “The stones are Grade II listed, the family has no say over what happens to them, and would be happy to assist in any way.”
The monument was presented in 1788 to Henry Seymour Conway, then-the Island’s Governor, who was responsible for erecting many of the round towers that protected Jersey from French invasion.
Field Marshal Conway, as he later became, had the dolmen, which had been unearthed in the 18th century at the St Helier site where Fort Regent was later built, transported to the Park Place estate, where it was re-erected and remains to this day.
Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel has previously said he would like to look into the possibility of returning the dolmen to Jersey.
Asked yesterday whether there could be room for the stones to come back as part of the Fort Regent redevelopment, Jersey Heritage said its position had not changed.
The organisation said it had previously received expert legal advice that repatriation “would not be a viable proposal”.
It added that “the protection afforded to them by UK heritage bodies and legislation means that it is unlikely that permission would be granted to have them moved”.
