The traveller 'land grab' linked to Cambridge University: How Trinity College signed off £100,000 sale of land - which was then paved over and turned into caravan site

Cambridge University's most prestigious college is facing questions over its links to the sale of a field later turned into an illegal caravan site. 

The land was sold ten years ago to a traveller couple despite fears it could be used as an unofficial pitch. 

But a row over the land's usage has been reignited after travellers began unauthorised work on the land near Hockley, Essex, on August 28.

Work on the partially built site started shortly after council offices closed for the bank holiday weekend. 

It remains occupied by several families despite Rochford Council serving a stop notice on August 29 and later securing a High Court injunction banning anyone from living on the land or developing it any further. 

It has now emerged Trinity College, of the University of Cambridge, retains a legal interest in the land and must approve any sale until November 2044, according to Land Registry records.

Local politicians have now demanded to know what due diligence checks the college carried out before signing off on the £100,000 sale in 2016 to travellers John Eastwood and Rachel Hilden. 

They also urged college fellows to clarify whether they could use their continuing interest in the land to help clear it.

Trinity College owns around 14,000 acres across Britain, much of it agricultural land let to tenant farmers.

Its vast wealth can be traced back to Henry VIII's decision to bestow the college land and endowments that had belonged to dissolved monasteries. 

The college – like many other long-term institutional landowners – frequently uses a 30-year overage agreements on land sales, allowing it to claim a share of any increase in value if planning permission is granted in future.

Members of the local parish council said its ongoing link to the land merited further investigation. 

David Catchpole, chairman of Ashingdon Parish Council, said: 'We had heard rumours that there may be someone with a continuing interest in the land, but were not aware of who.

'This could be an issue for further investigation by Rochford Council's planning officers.'

Another local parish councillor, who asked not to be named, called for Trinity to explain what due diligence it carried out before the land was sold to Mr Eastwood and Ms Hilden.

'I think we need an explanation from the college as to what checks were done and why the sale was allowed. If that sale had not gone through it is unlikely there would be a site there today.'

A district councillor, who also asked to remain anonymous because the traveller-related issues 'can land you in hot water', said: 'The [district] council is doing all it can now with the injunction, but I think we need to know more about the interest the college retains on the land and what, if anything, extra it could do legally to help clear the site.'

Mr Eastwood and Ms Hilden, who gave their address as a council-run traveller site in Sevenoaks, bought the field from local farmers Daniel Squier, 82, and Marrion Squier, 78 – who had themselves purchased it from Trinity College in November 2014.

The 2016 sale went ahead despite concerns from local residents that the purchase was intended to facilitate an unauthorised traveller site.

A retrospective planning application has now been made for 15 pitches, each containing a mobile home and up to two touring caravans. It has already attracted more than 100 objections from local residents and local Tory MP Mark Francois.

Rochford Council became aware of the possibility of illegal development two days before work began but legal advice ruled out seeking an injunction despite longstanding concerns about the site.

In a witness statement, the council's planning enforcement team leader Talent Masuku said: 'On August 26, 2026 at 14.17pm, in response to residents' reports, I visited the site and noted there had been recent activity on the land. The grass had been cut but the perimeter hedge remained untouched.

'On August 27 I sought legal advice on the council's position on seeking an injunction. I also contacted residents asking them to provide more evidence. The advice received was that we did not hold sufficient evidence to support an application.'

Her statement also revealed the council had been closely monitoring the site since the 2016 sale, amid fears of unauthorised development.

Within weeks of the purchase, land-clearing work began, prompting an investigation into whether the field was being developed unlawfully.

Ms Masuku told the High Court the council considered seeking an injunction after Mr Eastwood and Ms Hilden bought the land, but lawyers concluded their ownership alone was insufficient evidence.

In August 2016, Mr Eastwood began clearing scrub from the site, prompting a council visit. He insisted there were no plans to establish a traveller site.

Ms Masuku wrote: 'On September 9, 2016 the Council received a call to say a section of the hedgerow was being removed to create a further entrance on to the field. The council immediately visited the site and served a temporary stop notice. 

'The notice was complied with and the landowners Mr Eastwood and Ms Hilden asserted to the council officer that they had no intention of using the land to site caravans and only wanted a safer access onto the site.'

The new access was subsequently approved by the council.

In October 2016, caravans appeared on the land, prompting another stop notice. However, the owners said they did not belong to them and the vehicles were later removed.

The statement also said that in May 2017 the council's street naming and numbering team received a request from Mr Eastwood to name the site Fairways and allocate it a postcode.

A large pair of ornate iron gates was also installed at the entrance, with the owners claiming they were intended to deter fly-tipping.

Rochford and Basildon councils carried out joint inquiries into whether members of the Eastwood traveller family from Basildon, including former Wolverhampton Wanderers and Coventry City footballer Freddy Eastwood, were seeking to expand into Rochford and had financed the purchase of the land.

However, investigators were unable to establish any such link.

In July 2017, the land was used for boot sales, although a retrospective planning application was later refused. In November 2019 it was used as an unauthorised race track, but that activity subsequently ceased.

There was no further significant activity on the site until the unauthorised development over the August bank holiday.

A Rochford Council spokesman said: 'The ownership history of the land is not relevant to the planning enforcement action being taken by the council. 

'Planning enforcement decisions are based on the planning merits of the case, the activities taking place on the land and the evidence available at the time.

'The council investigates alleged breaches of planning control irrespective of who owns the land or how long it has been in their ownership.

'The injunction application was made against those parties considered necessary and appropriate to secure the relief sought by the council. It would not be appropriate to comment further on the identity of parties involved in ongoing legal proceedings.' 

The Squier family declined to comment but confirmed details of the college's involvement were a matter of public record. 

Trinity College did not respond to requests for comment.