Caretaker of stately home gave away £5m Tudor panel because ‘it was rotten’

Brian Wilson tells tribunal he tossed overmantel from Seighford Hall on to a pile of firewood, before giving it to an antiques dealer

The caretaker of a stately home in Staffordshire gave away a rare Tudor carved panel worth up to 5m because he thought it was rotten, an employment tribunal has heard.

Brian Wilson took the 450-year-old overmantel from the Grade II-listed Seighford Hall and tossed it on a pile of firewood, before giving it to an antiques dealer who later tried to sell it.