Plans to restore a derelict former hotel into a new mansion home, with another two houses to be built on the site, have been submitted to the council.

The application for Horncliffe Mansion, in Bury Road, Rawtenstall, also includes an application for listed building consent to renovate the Grade II-listed building, dating from 1851.

Under the proposals, the building would become a four-bed home, plus the construction of two four-bedroom ‘luxury’ houses on the former car park, plus associated work.

Documents submitted with the plans state: “Since purchasing the Horncliffe Mansion site in 2022, the applicant has made significant positive steps in bringing the site back into beneficial use.

“In 2024, the Applicant began a programme of reinstatement of the roof, brickwork and floors to reinstate bracing and lateral stability to the structure and take the first steps in making the building weathertight for the first time in six years.”

How the mansion looked after a fire How the mansion looked after a fire

Each new-build would have four parking spaces, with at least 10 retained for the main house.

The plans for the main house add: “Due to the total loss of the original interior and all of its features it is proposed to reinstate the interior with more modern materials and avoid a pastiche failed recreation of the original as simply we do not have the detail to be able to recreate the interiors as they once were.

“A sympathetic style to the period will be adopted.

“The interior layout is to revert back to similar to what would have existed originally, grand main rooms to the front elevation, service rooms toward the rear around a grand central staircase.

“This is thought to be the most preferable route opposed to say converting the building into apartments or alike.”

The property would have 13 rooms on the ground floor with a further 12 on the first floor.

Horncliffe House – as it was known then – was built for businessman Henry Hoyle Hardman, owner of Rawtenstall’s Hardman’s Mill.

It was sold to Rowland Rawlinson in 1903 by the Hardman family, before being bought by Lancashire County Council in 1969 to be used as a care home, until in 1993 it was sold again and became a hotel and rebranded as Horncliffe Mansion, when a ballroom was added.

By 2007 the property had closed down and become abandoned, and suffered a small fire, water damage and vandalism, with decorative fireplaces stolen, before being bought by property developer Jamie Carter in 2008.

Plans to turn it into a home were refused, before in 2013 its gatehouse was sold off for housing and the mansion was sold for £280,000, but remained derelict.

A photo of the huge fire which ripped through Horncliffe MansionA photo of the huge fire which ripped through Horncliffe Mansion

Another fire occurred in 2016, and it was vandalised with paint in 2018, before in 2019 a large fire took place destroying most of the internal structures and the property sustaining major water damage from firefighting.

The mansion was bought again in 2022, with work to turn the ballroom into a two-bed dwelling now almost complete, and subsequently permission was granted for a strip out and reinstation of floor and wall structures inside.

Other works planned for the building include reinstating chimneys, cleaning and restoring stonework and pointing, replacing windows and doors, restoration of outdoor areas, installation of CCTV to protect the site, plus restoring the interior of the mansion.

The plans received two messages of support from nearby residents, while United Utilities and Cadent Gas did not object to the plans.

Public consultation is open until Thursday, August 22, with a deadline for a decision slated for September 25.