Marske Hall: Owner of Grade II-listed Yorkshire Dales mansion submits new scheme for its conversion into apartments after rejection of previous application

Ian Morton put Marske Hall on the market for £11million in May after a planning inquiry led by a goverment inspector upheld the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s original decision to reject his application to remodel it into an aparthotel and wedding venue.

Mr Morton has argued that the 18th-century house needs a leisure use to remain viable. The mansion was converted into flats by a builder in the 1960s, shortly after the estate was broken up following the death of the last of the Hutton family, who had lived there since the 1600s.

Mr Morton has already renovated the apartments and converted the stables into holiday lets, but sought permission for further changes to the kennels and sawmill. His hope for them to become event spaces was refused on grounds of noise disturbance.

The new application, now under consideration, was submitted by Mr Morton’s development company via his agent. It seeks consent for the conversion of the hall’s basement into two residential units and alterations to ‘regenerate’ the existing basement flat. The kennels, currently vacant, would become a three-bedroom house. The sawmill is a derelict building.

The heritage report submitted along with the proposal states: “A set of heritage and design principles for the reconfiguration of floor plans and conservation of Marske Hall has previously been established, is set out below and has informed the previous and the current proposals. It has been re-assessed and slightly adjusted since the previous applications were submitted, not least as the current application only relates to the Lower Ground Floor of the hall but they fundamentally remain the same.”

Further details include that an existing disused apartment will become a one-bedroom suite, while the basement would have a new studio apartment in the original kitchen and another one-bedroom flat.

Both the kennels and the hall’s former service area are in poor condition, with Mr Morton’s agents arguing that as their original functions have become obsolete, there has been no incentive to maintain their fabric.