Batman's onetime movie mansion in rural England is now dealing with actual bats—and a warning from local officials. As the New York Times reports, Mentmore Towers, the 19th-century estate that once belonged to the Rothschild banking dynasty and stood in for Wayne Manor in 2005's Batman Begins, was found strewn with bat droppings and a dead bat during a 2023 inspection, alongside broken windows, ceiling holes, and cracked walls that may be letting the animals in. The mansion has appeared in movies including Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut and Sacha Baron Cohen's Ali G Indiahouse; House and Garden notes that it was showcased as recently as this year in World War II drama Pressure, starring Andrew Scott and Brendan Fraser.
Buckinghamshire Council has ordered the owners—a family trust linked to property tycoon Simon Halabi—to repair the structure, which is listed as Grade I, Britain's top heritage category, and conduct formal bat surveys by Oct. 4 or risk being forced to sell. The family says it is "absolutely committed to the long-term preservation and restoration of Mentmore Towers," and that "Mentmore's own 'Batman' team" of ecologists is on the job. Conservationists warn the once-grand 250-room Jacobethan mansion, famed for its history, is now in "very bad" condition. Says one: Mentmore's current state "underscores the fragility of the building and the absolute necessity of protecting its setting from further harm.
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