James Corden's secluded £8.5 million Oxfordshire home still remains boarded up, two years after he was awarded planning permission to convert it into a new six-bedroom house. The Gavin and Stacey star, who was raised in Buckinghamshire, moved back home after a long stint in Hollywood hosting The Late Late Show - and he was expected to move into the new property with his family.

However, the work on his dream home near the Thames has ground to a halt after experts confirmed that there could be the remains of a prehistoric settlement on the site, as well as possible Roman finds beneath the earth. A professional archaeological dig will now have to take place before the planned works can go ahead, giving the property, called Templecombe House, a "white elephant" status. Aerial photos demonstrate that it's the perfect celebrity haven, with almost no nearby buildings as far as the eye can see and maximum opportunities for seclusion and privacy - but its future remains to be seen.

In the meantime, the 46-year-old is understood to have forked out for a second mansion, this time even more expensive than the last.

His £11.5 million home in North-West London, close to acting legends Tom Hiddleston and Helena Bonham-Carter, was purchased last year - and he and wife Julia Carey reportedly moved in during the Christmas season.

He'd had a spiral staircase added to the property, plus a spacious balcony, which was spruced up with timber privacy screens on the side.

Just a year earlier, he'd successfully sold his Los Angeles home for $17.1 million (almost £13 million), leaving him with some spare cash for renovations after his comparatively cheap London purchase.

However, his new home in the capital is almost double the price of the £6 million Belsize Park home he had before his USA move, where he counted Chris Martin as one of his neighbours.

It is not known whether the boarded up property in Oxfordshire will be James' primary residence if and when work gets completed on it.

However, according to the Daily Mail, the project will require the excavation of 4,977 cubic metres of soil, which is the equivalent of two Olympic-sized swimming pools.

James had hoped to install an indoor swimming pool, steam room and sauna for himself, his wife and his three children.