New wine bar with cobbled outdoor area set to be created at historic Bolton town centre building

Plans to build a ‘stables’ wine bar with outdoor cobbled seating area in a historic building in the centre of Westhoughton are gathering pace.

The plans centre on a brick outbuilding to the rear of 110 Market Street accessed though a cobbled yard from the main road.

This outbuilding is one of two former coach houses or stable buildings at the rear of the main property, which is Grade II listed and currently used as offices.

Original planning permission for a change of use to a wine bar was granted in 2018 but plans lodged with Bolton Council this week request slight amendments which suggests the proposals are now gathering pace.

The ground floor of the building has a stone slab floor and there is a modern internal staircase leading to an upper storey. Outdoor seating for the Stables Bar would be provided on the cobbled area.

The building is within Westhoughton’s conservation area but documents in support of the application say any conversion will be sympathetic to the surroundings.

A design and access statement, said: “The proposal will respect the existing architectural ‘stable’ style of the building and seeks to reinstate the existing large timber ‘barn’ doors and enhance the elevation with suitable new windows and doors, retaining the original surrounds.

“The exterior of the building remains unchanged and therefore does not affect the overall characteristics of the conservations area.”

A heritage report with the plans says the related properties, Sunny Bank and South View on Market Street were built in 1853 in red brick laid in a Flemish bond with a moulded eaves and a hipped slate roof.

They are Grade II listed and were built for Peter Ditchfield, a cotton manufacturer who lived in Sunny Bank and his aunts lived in South View.

Ditchfield owned Union Mill, a cotton spinning mill in the town.

The statement, concludes: “The outbuilding’s present redundant state means that adaptation to a new sustainable use is essential to avoid further deterioration, and the proposed low impact conversion would achieve this with minimal impact.”

Planners at Bolton Council will consider the amendments to the original plans in the next few weeks.