DEFENDED VILLAGE

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31098, 29 June 1966, Page 5

DEFENDED VILLAGE

Baronet Charged (N.Z. Press Assn. —Copyright) j CASTLE COMBE (England), June 27. Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, officer in a crack cavalry regiment, faced : a court charge today of going into action with a fire bomb i to defend the beauty of this I village Castle Combe, nestling in a sleepy hollow by a stream inthe county of Wiltshire, is famed as perhaps England’s most beautiful village. Twentieth Century Fox Studios have chosen the place as the locale for the new picture “Dr. Doolittle,” the amiable, animal-loving character of children’s books, and in doing so have made a few structural changes to the village. Some local folk have protested, and at nearby Chippenham today Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham - Fienness was charged with planting a fire bomb near scenery erected in the village by the film company. The 22-year-old baronet was said to have admitted the charge. He also took an investigating policeman to similar devices in the village and defused them. At the same hearing a second man, Christopher William Knight, aged 23, was charged with trying to break down a temporary dam, built in the stream to turn Castle Combe into a fishing village, for the sake of the script. The two defendants were released on bail and ordered to appear again on July 21. In Castle Combe there is still controversy about Hollywood folk tampering with the place. Some say the building of a wall along the stream, to simulate a 19th century port, spoiled the character Of the village. But Twentieth Century Fox officials say that all the alterations have been done in the best possible taste, and with the approval of the local authorities.