Farmer hit with £31k bill after sowing historic fields

The farmer defied an order to stop ploughing land of historical importance
The farmer defied an order to stop ploughing land of historical importance

A farmer has been handed a bill totalling more than £31,000 after he ploughed historically important fields linked to prehistoric and Second World War periods.

Tenant farmer Andrew Cooper, who farms at Croyde Hoe Farm, Devon defied a stop order to continue ploughing National Trust-owned land of historical importance.

Mr Cooper was ordered to stop and remediate the fields by Natural England in September 2017.

However, he ignored the stop notice and continued to plough and lime most of a neighbouring field as well by March 2018.

The fields in question, found on the Baggy Point headland jutting out on the North Devon coast, are linked to the Mesolithic and Neolithic eras where large numbers of flint artefacts have been found.

They were also used as training grounds by American forces in the Second World War ahead of the Normandy invasion, and featured dummy pillboxes, trenches and graffiti left by a soldier who was killed in the landmark battle.

Dawn Enright of Natural England said the historic environment was a 'finite, non-renewable resource', and 'once it is lost it is gone forever - it cannot be recreated'.

"Impacts from cultivation are irreversible and over time may lead to the complete removal of archaeological remains and the significant displacement of remains such as flint tools," she said.

Mr Cooper pleaded guilty at Exeter Crown Court on 7 April 2021 to breaching the stop notice.

He was fined £7,500 with 5 months’ imprisonment in default of payment and ordered to pay £24,000 costs at Exeter Crown Court on 21 June 2021.