Rest of 'Sherlock Holmes' hotel set for demolition

The Lyndhurst Park Hotel has suffered “structural failure”, a council report said

The remaining parts of a former New Forest hotel which has links to the creator of Sherlock Holmes could be demolished.

Previous proposals for a housing development on the site of the Lyndhurst Park Hotel, which were approved in 2021, included retaining the façade.

Now members of the New Forest National Park Authority’s (NPA) planning committee have been recommended to approve new plans which would see this part of the hotel flattened as it has suffered “structural failure”.

Sherlock Holmes writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was involved in the redesign of the building in the early 20th Century.

Before planning permission was granted, campaigners - including the Victorian Society - had called for the building to be protected after sketches of it by Conan Doyle, dating to 1912, emerged.

A large part of the hotel, which closed in 2014, has already been bulldozed as work progresses on delivering the 79-home scheme.

Developer Burry & Knight plans to demolish what is left of the building before reconstructing it to serve as flats, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The hotel, pictured in 2012, closed two years later

A report from structural engineers for site owners Hoburne Developments Ltd said the building had "endured significant water ingress" during its long period being vacant before 2019.

It recommended the demolition of the building with a complete rebuild.

The report said: “As the building is not safe to either work within nor near due to risk of further collapse, no strengthening or façade retention works can be safely carried out.”

A heritage statement also said modern alterations and extensions had “significantly” affected the architectural and historic interest of the building.

A report by NPA planning officers ahead of the committee meeting on Tuesday, said it was clear the building was in a “perilous condition”.

The previously approved scheme for the retention of part of the hotel was no longer a viable option, the report said.