SHERIFF’S Lench has a new Lord of the manor after the title was sold to a young man who lives in Brussels.

Jean-Michel Constant, aged 29, bought the title from one-time resident Richard Spalding, who has since moved to Worcester.

“By acquiring this title,” said Mr Constant, “I did not seek to buy stock exchange security, but to symbolise old values – honesty, honour and faithfulness – which tend to be lost in our materialistic and individualistic society.

“I think that people want to symbolise their values by living them, to show them and to share them.

“And since my values are those of medieval chivalry, the title of Lord of the Manor is a beautiful symbol of this contrast between old values and modern society, and of who I try to be.”

The story goes that the manor of Sheriff’s Lench was granted to Evesham Abbey by King Ethelbald of Mercia in the ninth century, whose abbot was despoiled of it by Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, who was William the Conqueror’s half-brother.

The Lordship then passed into the hands of the Beauchamp family, ancestors of the earls Beauchamp of Madresfield, Worcestershire, who were hereditary sheriffs of the county, and from whom the village obtained its prefix to distinguish it from the neighbouring parish of Church Lench.

Mr Constant added that it was this rich vein of history that had attracted him to the title in the first place.

He said: “The choice of Sheriff’s Lench comes from two elements. First, of the quality of this title, which comes from the clear traceability of its previous holders, and secondly, of its geographical location, not too far from London and in a green and peaceful area.”

Mr Constant declined to reveal how much he paid for the title.