Old House period home in Ranworth at centre of bizarre row

The Old House, on the banks of Ranworth Broad, dates back to the 1700s and is owned by major local landowners the Cator family.

For more than a year, the property has been rented by Lady Patricia Ramshaw, who in November 2021 paid the family 12 months' rent to move in along with more than 20 animals - some she shares the house with and others who live on the surrounding land.

But the tenancy has proved far from harmonious, culminating in a convoluted legal wrangle which this week ended up in front of a tribunal judge.

Lady Ramshaw has taken her landlord, Sam Cator, to a tribunal, to contest the family's attempts to evict her.

She says she has been living in freezing conditions, with the house - which has been described as the best property to rent on the Broads - not equipped with central heating and claims it is riddled with damp and black mould.

She alleges the Cators have not taken responsibility for maintaining the property properly and are "harassing" her in an effort to get her out of the house, including monitoring her from a nearby church tower.

However, Jane Cator - Sam's mother, who was called to give evidence - claims Lady Ramshaw breached her tenancy agreement by bringing animals "in huge proportions" onto the land, subletting the property on AirBnB and painting walls in iron grey.

Lady Ramshaw says she has four dogs - three Great Danes - two horses, two pigs, a goat, several ducks and hens and a flock of sheep.

Mrs Cator said: "Your pigs absolutely destroyed the gardens."

The Cator estate says Lady Ramshaw had permission to move in two dogs and a handful of sheep, on the condition that animals would not enter the property's arboretum.

The tribunal heard that in January 2022, Lady Ramshaw was served with an eviction notice and negotiations began on the terms of this.

But these talks broke down, with the dispute largely centring on Lady Ramshaw's calls for her rent - and a £13,000 utilities bill - to be reimbursed.

The court heard an original agreement was made that would have seen Lady Ramshaw repaid. But Sam Cator admitted that the terms of this agreement were changed.

During the hearing, Lady Ramshaw also alleged Mrs Cator would frequently turn up at the property without warning "on at least 20 occasions".

She claimed on one occasion she had witnessed Mrs Cator watching over her from Ranworth church tower, something the Cators vehemently denied.

Lady Ramshaw asked in the tribunal: "You write that you were on top of the church tower and that you saw me. How do you think that came across?"

Mrs Cator replied: "I did not say I saw you, I say I saw a very large pig in front of the house."

Mrs Cator added that when she visited the church tower it would be to remember loved ones.

When asked why she wished to evict Lady Ramshaw, Mrs Cator said: "Because of the damage your animals were doing to the property."

James Castle, representing the Cators, said: "The claimant believes all of this has been part of a grand conspiracy to force her to leave. But that is not at all consistent with her evidence."

He added that Lady Ramshaw had "zero respect for the property and zero respect for the world around her".

Tribunal judge Stephen Evans said a written decision would be issued in the next four weeks.

He said: "This is not going to be the kind of case where both parties come out shining in glory."