Plans aim to convert buildings and make historic estate year-round attraction

PLANS HAVE been resubmitted for a major tourism development to make a historic estate in an East Riding village an all-yearround attraction.

Sledmere Estate wants to convert a complex of 180-year-old farm buildings on the estate which serves Sledmere House, which is open to the public, into a range of new facilities, including a larger art gallery, cafe, restaurant, garden centre and estate shop.

The estate, which encompasses the Wolds village of Sledmere and 9,000 acres of surrounding countryside, says it wants to attract custom in the ‘out-of-season’ months and encourage people to stay longer with a broader range of attractions.

The plans envisage walled paddocks at Home Farm being converted into parking and a former barn and kennels into a tourist office and bicycle hire point.

Other buildings would be converted to create more space for the Triton Gallery and the former estate sawmill would be converted to create a garden centre.

The plans are the same as those approved in 2013, but are spread out over two phases, with the first limited to the garden centre and tourist office in order to “test the water” in terms of visitor numbers.

Documents submitted supporting the application say the Yorkshire Wolds is beginning to be a “more enticing visitor destination in its own right”.

It says upgrading the facilities at Home Farm would “change the perception of Sledmere and the Wolds area as a predominantly summer attraction”.

The owners are currently trialling a farm shop at Sledmere House, but want to expand with a new shop in the Home Farm development which would stock staple items. They say the move would benefit older residents of the village.

Agent Stephen Greenfield said: “We are keen to see the development come to fruition and for more people to be able to enjoy visiting Sledmere for more reasons.”