Plans to convert listed pub into home

The Black Swan in Idridgehay has been closed for almost a year

A 200-year-old rural pub in Derbyshire that was closed due to "mounting losses" could now be shut for good and become a home.

The Black Swan pub in Wirksworth Road, Idridgehay, a few miles west of Belper, was shut in March 2024 "when annual losses approached five-figure sums", an application from owner Tim Tomlinson says.

Mr Tomlinson has applied to Amber Valley Borough Council to convert the Grade II-listed pub, which was built in the early 19th Century, into a house, with its car park becoming a garden.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said a decision on the plans would be made by the borough council in the next few months.

Redesign rejected

Documents filed with the application detail that the former owners of the pub had tried and failed to sell the venue as a going concern more than eight years ago.

During this time the kitchen was stripped out in a bid to turn the premises into a house, which is said to have led to significant community opposition.

After a lack of success the venue closed for a year before reopening in 2017 under the ownership of Mr Tomlinson, who reinstated the kitchen and "invested significantly" in the pub's refurbishment.

The documents went on to say a proposed redesign of the venue to help it separate the dining and drinking areas was rejected by council planners, contributing to its eventual closure.