A POPULAR hospitality venue is seeking to convert a 15th century building into hotel accommodation.

Lord Crewe's Charity, which operates the successful Lord Crewe Arms Hotel in Blanchland, has submitted a planning application to Northumberland County Council to change the use of 15 The Square from a residential dwelling to remodel the site to form an enlargement of the hotel's offering.

Lord Crewe Arms is a popular venue as it runs a hotel, pub and restaurant, and it brings in visitors from across the globe to the historic village of Blanchland.

According to the heritage, design and access statement as part of the application, the property would be remodelled in a sympathetic and sustainable manner with the proposed scheme seeking to achieve five en-suite bedrooms to form an enlargement to the Lord Crewe Arm’s hotel.

It continued: "The design of the proposed bedrooms has been carefully considered to minimise the alterations to the lay-out of the property and to try to retain as many of the properties original features as possible."

"To help preserve the historical lay-out of the property a spiral staircase has been introduced to provide access to the first floor of the northern part of the building. The new staircase will enable the existing landing area to be utilised as a space for an en-suite bathroom and it would also return the building back to its original lay-out, being two separate buildings," the statement goes on to say.

The statement concludes: "It is clear that the proposals are necessary to create comfortable, high quality hotel accommodation to meet with existing high standards that currently set by the hotel.

"They also seek to reinstate the original design features and intentions of the property and the proposed alterations are considered to achieve this without affecting the historic and architectural significance of the building.

"Works have been approached with due consideration to the historic significance of the building and to its surrounding area."

Lord Crewe's Charity is also seeking listed building consent to carry out the proposals.

Savills, which used to have a base in Corbridge, is acting as the agent on behalf of the charity.