During the middle ages, monks would travel to the village of Llanafan Fawr in mid-Wales to visit the church and relics of St Afan, a son of the king of Gwynedd, martyred by foreign pirates centuries before.

Today, a different sort of pilgrim can be found there. Two hilly, wooded parcels of land in Llanafan Fawr have been bought by the Woodlander Initiative (TWI), a land-buying scheme led by Simon Birkett, a far-right figure with links to Patriotic Alternative, the UK’s largest fascist group. Critics say Wiltshire-based Birkett’s aim is to create a racially exclusive settlement; he has cited Orania, a whites-only town in South Africa, as an inspiration for the project.

TWI successfully bought the two small plots totalling a few acres from a local farmer late last year, after attempts in Cumbria and East Sussex fell through. Since launching in 2023, the group has raised £165,000 of a goal of £1m – money Birkett plans to use to buy land or property in every county in Britain.

“We need to start building that alternative, our own businesses, our own institutions,” Birkett said during an address at Patriotic Alternative’s annual conference last October. “We need our own schools, with our own rules.”

Tents, huts and solar panels have been put on the site in Llanafan Fawr. Photograph: Francesca Jones/The Guardian

He added: “We need our own areas, we need our own land, we need our own buildings, we need our own conference centres. We need our own communities for our own culture. And it is down to us to start building it.”

Birkett is now making this dream a reality. No one was around during the Guardian’s visit last week, but the larger plot – previously an open field – is now a campsite. It hosted several tents, along with camping gear, solar panels, a wood store and a toilet block. Some of the fencing was clearly new and, at the second hilly, wooded site, a small gazebo was perched among the oak trees.

According to anti-fascist group Hope Not Hate, which exposed the TWI purchases in Llanafan Fawr, Birkett has already hosted members of PA at the sites, which are about 20 metres apart. A “family camp weekend” is planned for 13-14 September.

Birkett and others using the TWI properties have sought help from the community. The area is accessed via a road belonging to the neighbouring farm owned by Delia and John Weedon, who said that people at the site have previously asked them for water, and help putting up fencing.

“I helped them out by driving some wood and fencing stuff up the hill once. They seemed nice enough, they wave sometimes when they’re going by,” John Weedon said. “We only heard about these far-right rumours later. Now the whole area is talking about them.”

TWI denies it is a white supremacist organisation. In an email to the Guardian, Birkett said that TWI is not building a village, although that would be “a worthwhile endeavour”, and noted that the group’s membership criteria “does not mention colour or ethnicity”. Its constitution states it is a non-political organisation aimed at “building community, friendships, skills and fraternity”.

Delia and John Weedon said the group use one of their tracks to access the land but they haven’t been any trouble. Photograph: Francesca Jones/The Guardian

However, in a recent article, Birkett invoked the “great replacement” conspiracy theory, claiming that “those in power” are “intentionally replacing one population with another”, and that “white Europeans are being outbred” by migrants.

Last week, dozens of videos on TWI’s YouTube channel in which Birkett talks about his political views, including how he hopes Llanafan Fawr will become a “beacon surrounded by darkness where every other town around becomes more diverse, more corrupt”, appeared to have been taken down.

It is unclear whether William Jones, the farmer who sold the land to Birkett, knew about his buyer’s background in advance. Jones could not be reached, and his wife, Joanne, declined to comment.

A few miles away in Builth Wells, the nearest town to tiny Llanafan Fawr, reaction to TWI’s presence was mixed.

Leigh Price, the owner of survivalist shop the Bug Out, said several members of TWI had bought supplies and equipment from him, and Birkett had been in touch by phone to ask advice about where to find building materials locally.

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“All this white supremacist stuff is nonsense. I don’t think you can be right wing or say anything much these days without getting outlawed as a far-right group,” he said.

Jamie Owen, a bartender at the 14th-century Fountain Inn, said he was taken aback to find out about TWI. “Why here in Builth? They’re not local,” he said. “I would hope they’d get short shrift if they came into town.”

A shop owner on the high street, who asked not to be named, said: “I can imagine there will be some people here who welcome them. All I hear about from customers and in the pub is Reform, Reform, Reform, immigrants … Even though we don’t really have many in Builth.”

Builth Wells mayor Mark Hammond at the council offices in Strand Hall, which also has a concert hall. He said he hopes TWI keep to themselves. Photograph: Francesca Jones/The Guardian

Mayor Mark Hammond said that he hoped TWI would keep to themselves. “This part of Powys is very independent-minded, very mixed, politically. They may well get some support here, but if they cause any issues for the farmers or people who are very protective of the Welsh rural culture, then I can see there being some backlash.”

According to Hope Not Hate senior researcher David Lawrence, the far right in Britain has long dreamed of establishing whites-only communities, and similar efforts have been pursued by Combat 18, the British National Party, and the now-proscribed terrorist organisation National Action.

“These initiatives face significant financial and logistical challenges, and most have either failed to materialise, fractured due to internal conflict, or been abandoned due to dismal conditions and the property sold off,” he said.

Yet as far-right groups frustrated by electoral politics mount growing anti-migrant protests, the idea of racially exclusive enclaves appears to once again be gaining traction in extremist circles. In a recent article in the fascist magazine Heritage & Destiny, Patriotic Alternative leader Mark Collett praised TWI as a “fantastic initiative”.

“This is a long-term plan that will hopefully catch on and turn into the establishment of indigenous heartlands – places for our people,” he said.