Plan to renovate farmhouse after six decades

Maescoed Farm has not been lived in since the 1960s

Plans have been submitted to restore a 17th century farmhouse for a family to live in, six decades after it was last inhabited.

Proposals have been submitted to Herefordshire Council to renovate the building at Maescoed Farm in Newton St Margarets, which has been listed since 1984.

Documents said although there were "features of architectural and historic special interest", the house was in a "very poor state of repair and requires sympathetic refurbishment and modernisation".

A planning consultation is open until 13 November.

The applicant bought the farm in 2024 and intends to live in the renovated house with his family.

Consultants for the applicant said both the farmhouse and stable block would be re-roofed.

Internally, some walls and floors would need to be replaced, a new kitchen fitted and toilet installed.

However, the heritage statement added that the long period without people living there had protected the building from "unsympathetic modernisation", with many original features preserved.