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The Shropshire Council has appointed Buttress Architects to carry out survey and options appraisal of Wem’s White Horse Hotel as it plans to revamp this Grade-II listed building.
The news comes after Shropshire Council made the decision to purchase the Grade II listed White Horse in July 2023 to repair and bring the building back into use.
Over the years the building has been auctioned several times. Each time it has sold with no work being undertaken.
Now thanks to a Heritage at Risk grant from Historic England and working with the local community, Shropshire Council can move closer to the repair of the property and bring it back into use providing a boost to the town’s High Street renewal.
The upcoming analytical work on the site courtesy of Buttress Architects will provide the council with the necessary information to chart a path toward reopening the building, ensuring its future safety and sustainable use, while also fostering local economic development.
Part of this initiative includes an appraisal of several options. In the forthcoming months, the council plans to consult the Wem community, seeking their input and preferences on potential developments.
Councillor Dean Carroll, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for Housing and Assets, said: “Shropshire Council took the bold decision to buy the White Horse after many years of neglect in order to bring it back into use and create a positive uplift at this important part of Wem high street. We are pleased to have received funding from Historic England as it allows us to move the project forward.”
Peter Broomhall and Edward Towers, Shropshire Councillors for Wem, added: “The appointment of architects to begin the survey work of Wem’s historic White Horse Hotel, is an important next step not only in this building’s history, but also in the future prosperity of our town.”
“We see this regeneration project as a catalyst for the wider regeneration of Wem and its surrounding area and a much-needed improvement to the look of our High Street. We look forward to hearing the appraisal options coming from the survey and working with the local community to agree a way forward for this historic and prominent Wem building.”
