Pub where Victoria WAS amused set to be a bar once more
AN HISTORIC building that was once a pub given royal approval from Queen Victoria is set to become a bar again.
Mark Sharples, from Five Clouds, on the Market Place, has been given permission to open a second outlet at Grade IIlisted King Edward House, in Macclesfield centre.
The venue, on Jordangate, is currently offices, but was built in the early 1800s and was once the Macclesfield Arms.
And such was its impressive reputation that in 1832 Princess Victoria - later to become the monarch - visited for a bite to eat as she travelled through the town.
Mr Sharples’s move to return the building to its former use has received support - particularly as the need for office space is now decreasing with home working more common. As part of public consultation one respondent said: “With a dwindling need for office space, this is a fitting use for a building that has a long history in the pub trade, rather than sitting empty as so many more buildings in the area are.
“The owner and staff of Five Clouds have a proven track record of running a respectable establishment - this enterprise can only add to the vibrancy of the area.”
Cheshire East Council has approved Mr Sharples’s application to turn the building into a bar as well as to create a new entrance door and pedestrian ramp.
The bar can open seven days a week from 11am to midnight. His premises on the Market Place is a bottle shop and bar.
After spending many years as the Macclesfield Arms, the original pub underwent refurbishment in the 1980s and was subsequently called Brambles before closing.
Princess Victoria is said to have been en-route from Eaton Hall, in Cheshire, to Chatsworth, in Derbyshire, when she stopped at the Macclesfield Arms while her coach horses were changed.