Historic Shropshire manor house to be revived as home

Permission was granted this week to convert historic Old Colehurst Manor, near Market Drayton, back into a family home.

The proposals were submitted by Lynton Chopping, of Bourne in Lincolnshire, in February.

The Grade Two Star listed property was used as a visitor attraction and later converted by its previous owner, Bjorn Teksnes into a wedding and conference venue before his death in 2013.

The Norwegian professional golfer also bought the lordship of the manor.

But after it fell into disrepair the half timbered structure was included in the last year’s ‘At Risk’ list published by conservation charity, Save Britain’s Heritage.

Enhance

Planning officer Jan Preece said: “As evidenced in the consultation and public responses received the reversion to a single dwelling is something that is supported in principle.

“Furthermore, the proposed alterations and repair work present the opportunity to sympathetically restore and enhance this heritage asset, subject to imposition of appropriate listed building consent conditions to secure the final approval of particular matters of detail.”

Among the letters of support, Lesley Jarvis described the project as “a labour of love”.

She continued: “There are not many who would of taken this project forward to restore and bring to life this heritage manor house, yet the new owners have the passion and dedication to do exactly this by consulting with neighbours, immersing themselves within the farmstead to appreciate feeling and opinions, and also meeting previous family generations still alive who resided at The Old Manor to ask how the manor looked and how it functioned.

“This shows the consultative nature of the applicant and I think it is commendable the level of thought and care in not only carrying out remedial work to save the building from the first winter after acquisition but also to create a long term two to ten year plan to bring it back to life and outwardly show this is building to be loved and admired within its farmstead Colehurst setting.”

The manor was put up for auction in June 2017 with a guide price of £450,000 but it was sold before going under the hammer for an undisclosed amount.

By Emily Lloyd, local democracy reporter