Fleetwood plan to turn Victorian home into museum exhibit

Fleetwood Museum Trust hope to turn the house, built in 1839, into a display home

Plans to transform a Victorian house into an exhibit next door to a Lancashire museum have been submitted.

The former private residence was designed by renowned architect Decimus Burton and is one of the oldest buildings in the town.

Fleetwood Museum Trust is looking to turn the house, built in 1839, into a display home as part of the museum.

The building, which has retained many original Victorian features is "perfect for the project", the trust said.

Fleetwood Museum tells the history of the seaside town, created by Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, and it is hoped the addition of the house "will increase national awareness" of the town's development and Decimus Burton's design work.

The building is currently vacant but is believed to have always used a private residence.

In 1921 the building was bought by Lancashire County Council and was used as a police house, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The property shares a wall with the museum and the trust, which previously bought the freehold to the address, has submitted an application for change of use from residential use to museum use.

If approved by planners at Wyre Council the building will require a programme of restoration.

Work would include the removal of painted coatings to the original stonework to the east elevation, the removal of modern render over existing red sandstone with stone repairs and lime repointing.

The application said: "As the only accredited museum in the borough (of Wyre), it is essential that the applicant continues to develop its cultural and heritage offer to increase visitor numbers (currently at 18,000 per year)."