Plans for holiday lets at Listed wedding venue

Rowton Castle, in Halfway House, has applied for permission for the new buildings, which would be in the walled garden.

If given the go ahead by Shropshire Council, the holiday lets would be a mixture of two and three-bedroom single storey units to meet the needs of different users.

There would also be seven car parking spaces.

The application says: "The two building forms have been developed through looking at the vernacular buildings which are associated with walled gardens including the bothy, vinery, potting shed, greenhouses and tool stores.

"This has resulted in two distinct building types being proposed for the holiday let units.

"'The Potting Shed' and 'The Vinery' built form draws heavily on the typical form vinery and glass houses which are found in most historic walled gardens.

"The two bed buildings have low level eaves to the front elevation which faces out onto the main garden with a mono pitched roof sloping up towards the existing garden walls.

"'The Bothy' and 'Gardeners Cottage' are squarer in form with the entrance to the units being set within a recess towards the rear of the units to provide a shelter arrival space.

"As with the other two units the eaves have been kept relatively low with a series of tiled pitched roofs to break up the mass of the unit and enable the elevation which faces onto the main garden to be read as a series of smaller elements.

"The proposed materiality of the holiday lets have drawn inspiration from the vernacular buildings which would be historically associated with a walled garden."

The application concludes: "It is considered that the proposal for four new holiday lets within the currently walled garden at Rowton Castle would provide additional tourism facilities for the existing business, provide additional employment for the local area, preserve and restore a historically important structure and incorporate design features found in traditional walled gardens, and provide a series of well-designed and accessible holiday lets which would provide accommodation for a wide range of users."

A decision will be made on the plans in the coming months.