HOMES could be built in the grounds of a listed country house to help pay for its restoration.

Developers Emberworth has applied to Colchester Council to redevelop the early 19th-century Wakes Hall in Wakes Colne.

Ten houses would be built in the hall’s grounds.

That would help pay to convert the Grade II listed hall into 12 apartments.

The plans also include tennis courts, allotments, a gym and cinema room.

The homes will be available to residents aged 55 and over.

Wakes Hall is a former care home and central to the proposal is the restoration and refurbishment of the listed building.

The planning application says: “Use of the building as a care home over the past 60 years has taken its toll on the fabric of the building, both internally and externally.

“As budgets for care homes are continually stretched this has been to the detriment of the appearance of the main building.

“As such, significant works are required to deliver the improvements necessary to provide a new lease of life to the site and particularly Wakes Hall.”

Wakes Hall was built in the 1830s and remained in residential use until the 1950s.

In 1955, Wakes Hall’s owners received planning permission to convert the impressive building into a care home.

It was listed in 1982 and closed in 2016.

The new plans will see a mixture of bungalows, houses and apartments. Some 1960s extensions will be demolished if the proposals get the green light.

The application says: “The site is located outside the settlement boundary of Wakes Colne and Chappel and therefore is located within the countryside.

“The proposal provides a significant opportunity to secure the future of the heritage asset and deliver a number of improvements to its appearance, both internally and externally.

“These improvements however, do not come without significant cost.

“Historic England acknowledges where such issues exist, an appropriate level of enabling development should be allowed in order to secure the future of the heritage asset.

“The works proposed preserve and enhance the heritage asset, which has previously been unsympathetically extended to support the care home and has also lacked investment and maintenance for a significant period of time, resulting in its tired appearance.”