Glynis Stanning, 67 (pictured outside London's High Court) wants to demolish her £2million home in Gerrards Cross and build four new ones on the surrounding common
A suburban 'Lord of the Manor' has been landed with a £500,000 legal bill after his bid to use a medieval by-law to stop a multi-million pound housing development on rural land backfired.
Ex-lawyer David Baldwin, 74, and his sister Katharine Barber inherited the 14th century rights to the land in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire from their father, who bought the title of Lord of the Manor of Chalfont St Peter for £100 in the 1960s.
The siblings took their case to London's High Court in an attempt to stop Glynis Stanning, 67, demolishing her £2million home and building four new ones on the edge of Gerrards Cross Common.
Mr Baldwin disputed the boundary of her land, claiming the new houses would 'encroach on the common' and put intolerable strain on the picturesque area, 'creating a public nuisance' due to increased traffic.
But Mrs Stanning has emerged triumphed in her medieval court fight with the Lords of the Manor, leaving them facing a lawyers' bill of over £500,000.
Speaking after the judgment, Mrs Stanning's solicitor Andrew Olins said: 'Mr Baldwin lost on all issues. As such, it has proved to be a rather expensive exercise for the Lord of the Manor.'
The High Court heard the pensioner had initially agreed to pay Mr Baldwin and his sister £100,000 to gain the disputed rights for the houses she planned to put up on the site of her own luxury home, which her father built in 1978.
But the case ended up in court after Mr Baldwin 'tried to negotiate an increased payment' and relations broke down.
While Mr Baldwin expressed concerns over her development, Mrs Stanning insisted his claim it 'might decimate or destroy an otherwise rural idyll' was preposterous.
The plot of land is located just minutes from a busy high street and a train station connecting commuters with central London.
Mrs Stanning is building four new homes on Gerrards Cross Common in Buckinghamshire (pictured)
But ex-lawyer David Baldwin, 74, and his sister Katharine Barber inherited the 14th century rights to Gerrards Cross Common (pictured from above) from their father in the 1960s and as 'Lords of the Manor' they claimed have the right to stop Mrs Stanning
Agreeing with Mrs Stanning, Judge Mark Anderson QC said: 'Mr Baldwin and his sister were in some difficulty in suggesting that infringements of public rights will inevitably occur with Mrs Stanning's development, given that they were prepared to grant her all the rights she needed if she paid them a sufficient amount of money.
David Baldwin (pictured outside London's High Court) has failed in his bid to stop Mrs Stanning
'Ownership of the common is a property right which offers the opportunity of payment from neighbouring landowners who need access over or under the common.
'Mr Baldwin did not hesitate to acknowledge in oral evidence that it is a source of income.
'It is common ground that Mr Baldwin and Mrs Barber offered to grant rights for the purpose of the development in return for a payment of £100,000.
'Mr Baldwin says that when he realised
