History buffs reassured as extension planned at Annesley Hall property

Chaworth Lodge is a two-storey, detached Victorian building, off Mansfield Road, Annesley and set within the former walled kitchen garden associated with Annesley Hall.

Believed to have been built between 1849 and 1859 when Annesley Hall was fully renovated, the lodge is considered by Ashfield District Council to be a local heritage asset because of its historical and architectural interest. It incorporates Gothic architecture.

The property last sold in 2015 for almost £600,000 but is now considered by estate agents to be worth just shy of £1 million.

The application has been submitted to the council by professional planner Jack Nethercott and his agent, Staffordshire-based contractor Julius Bahn Oak Buildings.

It is for a “modest, single-storey, oak-framed orangery extension” on the northern side of the house, and follows the approval of planning permission earlier this year for an oak-framed porch.

A planning statement explains that the extension would measure four metres by 4.7 metres and “is intended to provide a larger and more functional kitchen area for the dwelling”.

It stresses that history buffs and Annesley admirers need not be worried about the development and goes on: “The design carefully follows the established materials at the property.

"It would be a modest and sensitively designed addition. The proposal would not intrude upon or diminish the architectural setting of Annesley Hall.

"The works would have no material impact on the surviving features of the historic landscape, including the 17th century terraces, pavilion and arboretum, or any of the tree-lined walks, water features and enclosed gardens that define the estate’s significance.

"No views into or out of the core parkland would be disrupted by the addition, and the overall character of the Grade II registered park and gardens would be entirely preserved.”

The lodge is named after the Chaworth family, who owned Annesley Hall, a grade II listed building that dates back to the 13th century, and its surrounding estate for more than 350 years.

Mary Chaworth was the lover of the poet Lord Byron (1788-1824), who lived at nearby Newstead Abbey, in their teenage years. Mary eventually married John Musters, of Colwick Hall, Nottingham, in 1805, and the powerful Chaworth-Musters clan ran Annesley Hall until it was sold in 1972 to the Football Association.

Property developers later acquired the hall, which was ravaged by two fires in 1997 and 2015.

The council’s planning officers are now considering the scheme and hope to make a decision or recommendation by their deadline date of Sunday, November 16.

THE details of many planning applications can be found in public notices advertised by local and regional newspapers. To catch up on all the latest public notices, go to https://publicnoticeportal.uk/