An historic row of houses in St Bees, once used as a school's boarding wing, will be brought back to their former glory if plans get the go-ahead.

In an application submitted to Copeland Borough Council, the 11 houses at Lonsdale Terrace are in line for a full refurbishment to make them suitable as family homes.

The distinctive terraced houses are all finished off with traditional lime render and each property is painted in a different colour.

In the plans the applicant, Remarkable Developments, said it was their aim to ensure that the historic nature of the houses would be maintained through the development.

They stated: “The design proposal has the potential to cause as little as possible harm to interior of the 11 houses and protect the importance of exterior appearance of the buildings.

"The proposed external work will be limited to maintenance of existing structure, including roof, wall etc and replacement of existing windows with new double-glazed windows."

The plans go on to state that the proposed development was in “accord with local and national planning policy in relation to conservation of the historic environment”.

The houses have an interested past and are linked to St Bee's School which was founded in 1583 as a boys' free grammar school.

The buildings were used in the 1970s for boarding when, when girls were admitted to the school.

Lonsdale Terrace was acquired by the school in the village of St Bees, with the establishment of two girls' houses – Bega and Lonsdale.

Until 2019, the terrace was in possession of the St Beghian Society, dedicated to former pupils of St Bees School.

It was only recently, when the school fell into financial problems, that Lonsdale Terrace was put on the market and Remarkable Developments purchased the properties.

The school undertook works to the former boarding accommodation in 2019, to return the houses back to individual properties.

However, the plans added that “there remains a significant amount of work to be undertaken to restore them to their former glory and make suitable for families of this era”.

For more information about the proposed development, visit: copeland.gov.uk and use the ref: 4/21/2242/0L1.