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The Royal Oak on Main Street is set to undergo a programme of internal refurbishment after a Listed Building Consent application submitted by its owner Daniel Thwaites PLC was approved by Lake District National Park Authority planners.
The Design and Access statement submitted with the application describes the proposed alterations as being internal and decorative without impacting on the historic fabric of the building.
It says: “The ground floor area will include new flooring with a mix of lake green slate around the bar areas and timber flooring elsewhere.
“The proposal seeks alterations to the bar area, reducing this in size and providing an additional seating area.”
It says that the faux-fireplace and bookshelves in the dining room area would provide additional seating and the total number of covers would increase from 103 to 125.
Necessary repairs to windows would also form part of the works.
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On the first floor ‘new decorations and furniture throughout’ would also seek to provide a facelift to the bedrooms and hallway with the removal of some internal connection between the bedrooms.
The statement says that once repaired the windows would be painted ‘arsenic’ green ‘which will take the property back to a former look in keeping with the building’s heritage’.
The planners report explaining the decision to approve the proposal says: “The Royal Oak has been a coaching inn and welcoming visitors for over 200 years.
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“Once a much larger inn with a grand dining room (now separate commercial premises) the building has high historic significance as an early coaching inn with centuries of trading on the edge of Keswick Market Place.
“Due to its associations with the Romantic Poets and John Peel, the site has value as a component of an attribute of Outstanding Universal Value for which the Lake District was inscribed as a World Heritage Site.
“Overall, I consider the proposed works to be acceptable and a welcome investment in a prominent listed building in the conservation area.
“The significance of the listed building will be conserved and enhanced by the timely repairs, redecoration and upgrades to the facilities of the hotel.”
