The Guardian
· collected 2026-10-10 · by Helena Horton and Michael Goodier
When South African billionaire Koos Bekker bought an old country estate in a sleepy corner of Somerset to turn it into a luxury hotel, residents thought it was a sign their area was on the up.
asserted
area → buy → up
Walking through his peaceful manicured gardens, which feature a maze of apple trees twisted into perfect shapes using the espalier method, it’s easy to feel that all is well in this quiet, picturesque pocket of England.
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all → walk → England
But if you venture beyond the orchards and into the local pubs, where the local cider sets tongues wagging, you’ll hear a very different story.
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you → venture → story
Bekker has been embroiled in a row with local people over a number of issues ranging from the vast expansion of his estate, the use of pesticides on it and branding deals – described as “brazen” by one local person – which have seen the local train station named after his hotel, the Newt in Somerset.
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station → embroil → Somerset
The businessman has a net worth of about £3bn and is the chair of Naspers, one of the world’s biggest technology firms.
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businessman → have → firms
He has been buying thousands of acres around Bruton and Castle Cary – more than 2,700 acres (1,090 hectares), according to Guardian analysis – through his company Emily Estate (UK) Limited, which trades as the Newt.
uncertain
which → buy → Newt
As well as swathes of the countryside, Bekker has also snapped up high street businesses from a deli to a beauty parlour, as well as pretty former farmhouses and local pubs.
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Bekker → snap → farmhouses
And it is this expansion of Bekker’s influence beyond the boundaries of the Newt – beloved of celebrities such as Charli xcx and Kate Moss – into the heart of the local Somerset villages where tensions have begun to emerge.
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tensions → belove → villages
The area boasts famous residents including former chancellor George Osborne, fashion designer Stella McCartney, and broadcaster Mariella Frostrup.
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area → boast → Osborne
The George pub in the centre of Castle Cary currently serves senior citizens a hot dinner for just £12, but local people do not expect these prices will remain now the Newt has bought the inn: a bag of chocolate buttons in its farm shop costs £11.95, while a bottle of “cyder” grown on the estate is £12.50.
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bottle → serve → estate
Bekker bought the 17th-century manor Hadspen House in 2013, along with 16 acres of land, converting it into the luxury hotel.
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Bekker → buy → hotel
Last year he acquired Yarlington Lodge, a Grade II-listed Georgian house a mile away, and converted it into a 32-guest property with its own pool, tennis court and cinema room.
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he → acquire → pool
He is hardly a silent investor – the sign for the local train station, Castle Cary, now reads “Castle Cary for the Newt”.
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sign → read → Newt
By the tracks is the new Creamery cafe, which serves afternoon tea in a vintage Pullman carriage at £45 a head.
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which → serve → 45
Hugh Thomas, a food writer from Frome, said the renaming of the station seemed “arrogant and brazen”, adding: “The station does feel somewhat colonised by the Newt regardless, which I find an encroaching thing, given it is supposed to be a public service.”
Some, though, have welcomed the investment, saying it has cheered up a previously unloved train station and the Bekker family were creating jobs as well as bringing new people to the area to eat in the restaurants and drink in the pubs.
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family → say → pubs
Visitors to the £800-a-night Newt hotel are invited to enjoy being immersed in the nature of deep Somerset.
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Visitors → invite → Somerset
The hotel recently welcomed a cage of endangered red squirrels.
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hotel → welcome → squirrels
But there, too, lay a problem.
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problem → lie → ?
The Newt consulted rewilding expert Derek Gow about keeping five red squirrels in a pen.
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Newt → consult → pen
They became extinct in most of England after invasive grey squirrels were introduced from America which carry a virus that causes a disease called squirrelpox, which kills off the reds.
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which → become → reds
Gow said: “The Newt did talk to me about it; we did have one conversation.
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we → say → conversation
I said: ‘It is not going to be viable.’
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It → say → ?
It is performative – [the squirrels] are in the cage to show guests.
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squirrels → show → guests
That’s it.
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That → ’ → ?
Keeping five squirrels in a cage does nothing for wildlife.
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Keeping → keep → wildlife
If they do release them, they will just get squirrelpox and die.”
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they → release → squirrelpox
While the Newt has created spectacular gardens around the hotel, including a historically accurate Roman villa, a “four seasons” garden featuring marble water fountains and a treetop walkway, these are not freely accessible to the public.
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these → create → public
Only hotel guests and those with an £85 annual pass can enter the grounds.
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guests → enter → grounds
People living nearby have also been concerned that there has been an increase in flooding since the Newt was built.
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Newt → live → flooding
The hotel has acknowledged this, and has been digging pools to hold any run-off water from the farm and paved areas.
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hotel → acknowledge → farm
Local people have set up a group to coordinate complaints about the issue.
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people → set → issue
Emma Craigie, a writer who lives nearby, said: “I live in a village below the hill the Newt is on.
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Newt → live → hill
In our immediate locality there were incidents of flooding which seemed clearly exacerbated by their road building and hardcore use.”
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which → be → building
The worst incident was in May 2023, when rain over the Newt caused flash-flooding down the Pitt and Cam valleys, which the local council described as “beyond levels seen in living memory”.
uncertain
council → cause → memory
The local authority declared an emergency that evening.
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authority → declare → emergency
Villagers have also set up a petition against the spraying of pesticides on the Newt’s farmland.
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Villagers → set → farmland
The model and actor Gabriella Wilde, who also lives locally, said: “I was surprised and a little disappointed to learn that they are using such harmful chemicals in their farming operations.
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they → live → operations
That is certainly not the image they project to their guests and local fans.
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they → project → guests
Is it really necessary, especially given how many local farms are making great strides in moving away from old school harmful practices, and towards more nature friendly farming?”
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farms → give → farming
Farmers have been suspicious that new boreholes drilled by the hotel have dried up sections of the River Brue, the stream that Bruton is named after.
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Bruton → drill → that
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
