Care home plan for derelict hall

Hinton Hall has been vacant for a "considerable period of time" according to a heritage expert

Plans have been submitted to turn a derelict country house into a care home.

Planning documents describe Hinton Hall, on the Shropshire-Cheshire border, as a "time capsule".

The scheme would see it restored and converted into a 43-bedroom nursing home with an additional dementia unit in a former walled garden.

The developers suggest about 100 staff would be employed there.

The 19th Century building off the A49 north of Whitchurch is described as being in “very poor” condition, having been broken into and looted on several occasions.

Preservation charity Historic Buildings and Places said the building’s “time capsule” nature meant it was important that the historic features of the structure were preserved.

The building has been vacant for a number of years, but was used as a school for refugee children from Eastern Europe during World War Two.

It was originally constructed by Robert Peel Etherstone in 1856.

Consultants Emery Planning said the scheme would bring the historic property back into use without harming the building’s character and appearance.

The plans will be considered by Shropshire Council’s planning department in due course.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.