There had been concerns about the state of Holbeche House on Wolverhampton Road in Wall Heath, near Dudley, after a nursing home that was based in the building closed in 2022.
The building, thought to date back to about 1600, has fallen into a state of disrepair since the nursing home closed, and in 2023 it was placed on the Heritage at Risk register. Despite this The National Trust decided not to purchase the building.
Now Dudley-based Select Health Care, which owns 21 care homes, has lodged a planning application to turn the Grade II-listed building into its head office, securing its future.
The sprawling site from above (Image: NCR Architectural Design for Select Health Care Group)
The firm has applied to Dudley Council for permission to remove internal stud walls, carry out repairs to the roof, and repair and repaint existing windows and French doors.
Notes to planners state: “Holbech House (now Holbeche) is infamous as the secluded mansion where the last, bloody stand of the Gunpowder Plotters took place on 7 November 1605.
“The Gunpowder Plot was a conspiracy to assassinate the protestant King James 1, and members of the Houses of Parliament (Commons & Lords) at the Palace of Westminster. Furthermore, to appoint his daughter Elizabeth (aged 9) to the throne as a puppet ruler, forcibly raising her as a Catholic.”
They go on to say that a “feasibility study of options to secure the future of this locally significant, iconic building have been produced” and that if plans get the go-ahead a link building that joins Holbeche House to an annexe previously used for care accommodation will be demolished.
Plans state: “The proposal for the change of use of Holbeche House from a care home to the Head Office of a successful operator of elderly and specialist care homes nationally, represents amenity improvement with significant public gain.”
The site occupies approximately 18,200 square metres (1.82 hectares) of land.
The change of use application from care home to office will be considered by Dudley Council planners.