Historic features of Ellesmere Port's Station Hotel pub to be saved

Areas of unique carved sandstone along with some signage will be retained from the iconic building which dates back to the 1870s.

Revised plans to knock down the former public house and replace it with apartments were given the green light by Cheshire West and Chester Council last week.

The building has fallen into disrepair since closing its doors for the final time back in 2017, and has also been targeted by vandals and trespassers.

Last summer, developers Rose Business Services got the green light to knock down the locally listed building and replace it with two residential blocks containing 25 affordable apartments.

However, earlier this year they put forward a revised application to demolish the site and instead build one residential block with 19 apartments, creating more space for parking and landscaping.

Although it is locally listed, the Station Hotel is not a designated Grade II listed building and therefore has no statutory protection.

In the revised planning application, the owners have confirmed that some areas of the building's unique carved sandstone "would be worthy of saving" along with exterior signage.

The plan would be to re-use the features within the fabric of the new building or as part of the landscaping.

The Station Hotel pub features set to be saved before it is demolished.

The application states: "The identified features would be removed by hand using appropriate non-mechanical hand tools prior to the use of mechanical processes to substantially demolish the building.

"They shall be stored either on-site or off-site in a suitably dry, safe and secure location pending their re-use within the fabric of the new building or as part of the wider approved landscaping scheme.

"If this is not feasible or possible, then the features will be offered to the Ellesmere Port Local History Association.

"The identified features will be removed using all due care and attention, though it should be noted that they have experienced heavy weathering and degradation over the years and their precise condition is unknown, or whether it is possible to remove them without causing any damage."

According to the application, the inside of the pub is of "little architectural or historical character" due to the significant alterations that have been carried out over the life of the building.

The Station Hotel was bought at auction by a property developer in early 2019 but was advertised for auction once again in October of that year.

The current owners purchased the property after this date.

The latest planning application states that Sanctuary Housing are likely to "purchase the site and construct and manage the housing".