Millionaire who built 'UK's biggest' man cave shares why he sold it for just £1 (2025)

Graham Wildin built what has been called the UK's biggest man cave in the Forest of Dean, without planning permission, and has spent years locked in fierce legal battles with authorities over the complex - even spending three weeks in jail

A millionaire who built a man cave said to be the UK’s biggest has revealed why he sold it for just £1 - despite it being worth a reported £750,000.

Graham Wildin hit the headlines after he constructed the huge complex behind his home in Cinderford, Gloucestershire, almost ten years ago.

It came complete with its own bar, bowling area, cinema, soft play areas, and even a casino.

However, Mr Wildin never sought planning permission for his monstrous project and has spent years since stuck in successive legal battles with authorities.

The grandad, now in his 70s, even spent three weeks behind bars after disobeying a court order.

In his latest court appearance, losing his appeal against the judge's decision to imprison him, he claimed to have sold the man cave on the day he left jail on September 28, last year, but that the land registry paperwork only just came through this month.

Mr Wildin said he sold the property for just £1 because “it is worth nothing as it is now” and it needed to be knocked down but he didn’t want to demolish it because it would be “too dangerous”.

He compared his illegally built man-cave to one of the country’s most horrific disasters that led to their deaths of 116 school children.

The Aberfan disaster, in Glamorgan, Wales, in October 1966, was where a coal slag heap collapsed and killed the young children at a nearby school, alongside 28 adults.

Speaking to The Sun, he said: “We dug out 9,500 tons of soil to make the cave and that all needs to be put back. I think it would be too dangerous to do that works.

“Remember the Aberfan disaster? The house is at the front and the cave behind and if all the tons of soil are moved we could have another slip and the house could be gone."

Mr Wildin told the court he had sold the complex to a “Mexican” man that he didn’t know and produced papers he claimed were the land registry documents proving he no longer owned the complex.

He said he has spent years clashing with local authorities over the build, but sold up after the unnamed Mexican-buyer reportedly rang him up out of the blue to enquire about buying it.

Following his latest court battle, Mr Wildin claimed that the local council and authorities “only got a beef because of their jealousy”.

During the hearing, the three high court judges agreed with the Forest of Dean District Council lawyer who said the supposed sale did not have any bearing on the case because it happened after Mr Wildin was jailed for contempt of court.

The Forest of Dean District Council barrister told the court it would take time to find out if the sale of the man cave to a Mexican company was “genuine or a sham” because they had just found out about it but it was irrelevant to the case.

The businessman represented himself at the High Court in London to argue that Judge Jarman QC was wrong to activate a six week suspended sentence last August.

He also repeated original claims that it was impossible for him to comply with the detailed court order because he could not access the building, due to his children now owning the properties in front of it.

Mr Wildin told the court he was appealing against the jail sentence because he was "on the cusp of getting struck off" by professional bodies overseeing his trade.