Inside the Secret House Of Alan Yeomans Disguised as a Cow Shed

The Story of Alan Yeomans secret mansion

By Rare StoriesPublished 12 months ago • Updated 12 months ago • 3 min read

Alan Yeomans, a 67-year-old drug dealer who was found guilty, concealed his house, Shedley Manor, in Derbyshire, by covering it with green cladding to make it resemble a cowshed.

He had meticulously decorated the house's interior. Yeomans, who grew cannabis, falsely claimed he was living in a shed in his mother's garden and declared bankruptcy. He also stated that he owned only £300 worth of furniture and a £30 watch.

Acting on a tip-off, the police conducted a search of the concealed property in Yeaveley, near Ashbourne, where they found a luxurious mansion filled with expensive items.

Among the discovered items were a Rolex watch worth £10,000, antiques, and oil paintings with a total value of £83,250. Additionally, the police discovered a secret room concealed behind an oil painting of Elizabethan statesman Robert Cecil, which contained cannabis plants worth £40,000.

Alan Yeomans was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison in 2016 after pleading guilty to several charges, including fraud, money laundering, and producing cannabis. He had previously declared himself bankrupt in 1993 and 2009. Yeomans used the green cladding to conceal his mansion, which he had built in defiance of local planning restrictions.

Alan Yeomans admitted to nine charges related to producing and distributing cannabis, stealing electricity, hiding criminal property, and failing to disclose bankruptcy. Derby Crown Court was informed that Yeomans had constructed Shedley Manor without planning permission in his mother's backyard in 2002.

What Will Happen To Shedley Manor

Following Yeomans' imprisonment, the Shedley Manor property was auctioned off and was initially planned for demolition. However, it was later sold again to a new owner. The current state and use of the property are unknown.

Inside the house, expensive items were found

According to recent reports, the current owners of Shedley Manor have received planning permission from Derbyshire Dales District Council to renovate the property. The permission includes removing the green cladding, adding windows to rooms that previously had none, and creating a new entrance.

The architect in charge of the renovation, Matthew Montague, acknowledged the property's history and stated that a significant amount of work would be required to transform it into a livable house. However, with planning permission in hand, the owners can now proceed with the renovation process.

Expensive artworks inside Alan Yeomans concealed mansion

Architect Matthew Montague said: "This property has quite a history.

"It was built to look, from the outside, like a non-descript corrugated green agricultural barn but it was far from that and in reality there was luxury hidden within.

"Quite a considerable amount of work is now needed, both inside and out, to make it into a house but permission has been granted so the owners can get on with it.

"It will look very, very different."

Insolvency service investigator Glenn Wicks said:

'What surprised me when I went into Shedley Manor was that someone built a six-bedroom manor house in the Peak District and filled it with fine art and antiques and the authorities didn't know anything about it.

"In fact he lived in a six-bedroomed house built inside a barn to defeat planning regulations and which could be valued at more than a million pounds,"

He also described Yeomans as "a drug dealer, liar and fraudster" who "cynically made himself bankrupt".

'This was a very intricate, sophisticated set-up.'