Overstone Hall: More than 600 object to stately home demolition

More than 600 formal objections have been made to plans to demolish a dilapidated former stately home.

Overstone Hall, near Northampton, has been derelict since a blaze in 2001 and it suffered another fire in April.

Owner Barry Howard Homes has applied to West Northamptonshire Council to knock down the Grade II-listed building.

Historic England has been among those submitting objections to the local authority, saying its preservation should be looked at.

In the application, the developer said it had "taken all reasonable action to arrest the decline of the remaining parts" of the hall.

It said the building was "in a derelict and perilous condition" and it was unviable to restore it.

West Northamptonshire Council said it had received a total of 665 objections for two applications.

One deals with the planning permission for the demolition and the other is for the permission that would be needed to change a listed building, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Dale Dishon, from Historic England, told the council it would support the commissioning of "a feasibility study in order to get to the bottom of the unanswered questions regarding the condition of the fabric and what is realistic within a range of options for preservation, demolition and new development".

"The study could then inform current and future decision-making by your authority on this site, as well as feeding into your discussions with the owners," he said.

Heritage charities the Victorian Society and Historic Buildings and Places, as well as Overstone Parish Council have opposed the demolition.

West Northamptonshire Council has yet to make a decision on the application.

Originally commissioned by Lady Overstone in 1860, she died before the hall was finished. Her husband was said to have hated all 119 rooms.

As well as a school, it has also been the headquarters of a Pentecostal church, but in more recent times it has been badly damaged by fire, the weather and vandalism.

Northamptonshire Police said officers were still investigating the latest blaze and no-one had been arrested.

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