Bury St Edmunds school on former 'castle' site to be demolished for housing

St Benedict's Lower School in Bury St Edmunds closed in the summer

A school built on the original grounds of a 19th Century "castle" is due to be demolished to make way for housing.

St Benedict's Lower School in Bury St Edmunds shut last summer and moved to its Upper School site in Beetons Way.

M&D Developments bought the grounds, which originally belonged to St Andrew's Castle, in October and have plans to build nine, three-bed homes.

The former house, which was built in 1820 and styled itself as a castle, is owned separately and used as offices.

The new development only applies to the school buildings, and a separate application is planned to develop the rest of the 3.7-acre (1.5-hectare) site as a car park.

The developers said in the plans represented the "most appropriate usage" for the "historic host site", reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

St Andrew's Castle, formerly a house, is currently the Active Business Centre

In June, St Benedict's held a picnic to celebrate the school's history on the grounds.

The house and grounds became a part of the Convent of Sister of St Louis in the 1930s, and were used as a day school until 1967 when St Benedict's opened as a Catholic state school serving west Suffolk.

St Andrew's Castle has Grade II* listed status.