Stower Grange Hotel in Drayton near Norwich set for houses

The Stower Grange Hotel in Drayton will be turned into three flats after Broadland District Council approved plans for the site.

The hotel dates back to the 1600s and is four miles from the centre of Norwich. It sits within two acres of grounds, with rear landscaped gardens and woodlands. 

The hotel has been closed for several months (Image: Newsquest) Plans first emerged a year ago when the owners decided that the site would have an "uncertain and potentially unsustainable future as a hotel".

A planning statement submitted to Broadland District Council in 2023 said: "This has been further accelerated by the impact of the recent pandemic.

"The client and owner of Stower Grange Hotel has reluctantly explored the more viable use towards development to provide three individual dwellings to respect the building which will remain within the existing building footprint, over the three-floor levels."

In the plans, it is stressed that: "The paramount element is to preserve the essence of Stower Grange and respect the attributes of the original building."

The hotel was a popular destination for weddings (Image: Newsquest) Each property is expected to have a “generous” living and dining room with home offices and bedrooms with ensuites. 

The properties will be a mix of three and four bedrooms, each set across two levels.

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The Stower Grange Hotel has been closed for several months, with a message on its website from owners Richard and Jane Fannon.

They said: "We would like to thank all our customers, suppliers and staff over the past 23 years, who have made the hotel such a happy place.

"New owners have not yet declared their intentions but we will know more very soon."

The hotel boasted a three-star AA rating for its rooms, with a Rosette-awarded restaurant and TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Award for guest reviews. 

The site has a history dating back to the 1600s (Image: Newsquest) THE HISTORY OF THE HOTEL

The Grange was first built in the 1600s with extensive rebuilding and enlargement in the 18th and 19th centuries. 

The first record of the building in the documents held by the Norfolk Record Office lists it as a parsonage in 1621, a messuage (house with out-buildings) in 1716 and a rectory in 1784.

The building has had a complex history and has been altered and extended many times in the last several hundred years.

The dining room in The Stower Grange Hotel (Image: Newsquest) The earliest surviving part of the building dates from around 1700, with some fragments of a high-status late medieval building.

There was extensive rebuilding in the 17th or 18th century and further rebuilding and enlargement during the 19th and possibly early 20th century.

In its most recent history, the building was used as a nursing home, followed by bed and breakfast accommodation.

In 1979 it was converted to a hotel and restaurant when further extensions were added to the rear of the building to provide expanded kitchen and function room accommodation.