A farmouse near Crudwell was at the centre of paedophile ring where animals and girls as young as eight were abused, a court has been told today.

The isolated building at Murcott owned by Nicholas Cordery was used as a base where group members would indulge in group sex, bestiality and child abuse.

Among those alleged to be involved were a Household Cavalry soldier and his wife, a woman childminder, businessmen and a railway consultant.

Reading Crown Court heard police found drawers filled with sex toys, pornography, a battered teddy bear and a pair of child's pants left next to a butter dish.

Cordery, 62, along with soldier Simon Davies, was at the centre of a huge police investigation.

Both men, along with two others, Peter Malpas and Anthony Flack, admitted a string of sex charges when they appeared in the dock.

Davies' teaching assistant wife, Fiona Parsons-Davies, 44, also admitted a charge relating to child cruelty.

Childminder Joanna Gale and rail industry consultant John Connolly were alleged to have been part of the gang, who met on the internet. They denied all the charges against them.

The jury was told Gale and Connolly conspired to rape a girl under 13 years.

Gale also faced two counts of sexual activity with the girl as well as helping Connolly to facilitate the rape and sexual assault the child.

They were also accused of possessing thousands of abusive images of children and sending some of them to other members of the ring.

Christopher Donnellan QC, prosecuting, said the paedophile ring was infiltrated by undercover police who intercepted the messages sent by gang members.

He told the jury that the central figures in the case had been Cordery and Davies, of Windsor, Berks.

The court heard how Davies, 37, himself a father, had groomed and raped a schoolgirl and had taken the youngster to Cordery's farm where she was abused.

The Lance Corporal Davies had boasted online of how he had sex with the child and filmed their encounter, which he sent on to Cordery, who later forwarded the footage to others, including Gale and Connolly.

Cordery in return had sent Davies a picture of a bestiality act.

The court heard Cordery had also been communicating with Gale and Connolly about them going to the farm for a "party" with a pre-teen girl, after they had shared naked photographs of her.

They had also sent Cordery pictures of themselves, with married Connolly, aged 41, posing next to a motorcycle and Gale, 35, standing provocatively in a bustier, denim skirt and stockings.

Gale and Connolly left their homes in Warrington, Cheshire, to drive to Wiltshire in February 2011 but turned around when other participants pulled out.

"They stopped when they realised it wasn't going to be the party they expected and they turned around and went back," said Mr Donnellan.

Undercover police officers were led to Davies following the arrest of Anthony Flack, 53, who was caught in a sting operation.

When Cordery was arrested RSPCA officers seized his seven dogs - many of which had been the subject of abuse.

Gale and Connolly were traced through computer records.

When police examined Connolly’s computer they found 32,000 indecent images and 18 movies, some at level five - the most severe category.

They also found video on his phone of a man, believed to be Connolly, walking into a room where a little girl was dressed in a short tartan skirt.

In the child's police interview she said she had been wearing a short skirt of a similar description when Connolly had sex with her. Forensic tests later revealed traces of Connolly’s semen on it.

"She told John Connolly she was scared and he told her not to be," Mr Donnellan said.

"He said he would be scared in this situation but made a joke of it. He said he would get into lots of trouble and he did not want his children's lives to be ruined."

In interview Gale claimed to have no knowledge of emails sent between her and Connolly, using a shared email address, and Cordery.

She also denied abusing a child, or facilitating Connolly's abuse, and said she had never had any paedophile-related contact with anyone.

Connolly told police he had stopped contact with Cordery when their exchanges became too "dark."

He claimed the images found and sent from his computer were the result of a virus, gave police a statement denying the sex assault and rape accusations and answered questions with "no comment."

The trial continues.