Archbishop’s Palace in Maidstone to be turned into a wedding and events venue
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The future of a town’s iconic 14th century landmark building has been decided.
The Grade I listed Archbishop’s Palace in Maidstone is to be used as a wedding and events venue.
The Archbishop’s Palace dates from the 1300s
A view of the palace from the River Medway
The decision has been taken after a four-year hunt to find a new use for the palace.
Maidstone council owns the building in Mill Street and previously let it to Kent County Council (KCC) .
The building, which in medieval days was a stop-over for the Archbishop of Canterbury on his journey to London, has been without a purpose since KCC, which had been using it as a Register Office and Coroner’s Court, ended its contract in March last year.
KCC has now moved its services to Oakwood House.
At one stage, the council struck a deal with Balfour Hospitality to allow it to investigate developing the palace into a boutique hotel and wine centre, but that fell through when the firm decided the difficulties of altering the Grade I listed building made the project unviable.
Now the council has had an offer from a company to lease the building for a period of 35 years as a wedding venue.
The Herb Garden at the Archbishop’s Palace in Mill Street
The Courtenay’s Parlour inside the Archbishop’s Palace
The name of the operators has not been revealed, but it is said to be a company with 20 years of experience of owning and operating hotels.
The council will be breathing a sigh of relief because even if it allowed the building to stand empty, the ongoing business rate, repairs and maintenance costs was estimated to amount to £250,000 a year.
However, there is still a cost involved as part of its agreement with the new operators is that the council will spend up to £1.5m in adapting the building to its new use.
That will include installing a commercial kitchen, creating an accessible entrance and communal reception area, redecoration and new floor coverings and an upgrade of all services.
The council will also be responsible for obtaining the planning and listed building consents for any necessary alterations.
The jailhouse at the Archbishop’s Palace
Inside the Solar Room at the Archbishop’s Palace
In July, the council invited tenders from potential lease-holders but said the response was “relatively modest”. There were only seven viewings by potential tenants and only four firm offers.
One of the four offers was discounted after the council determined the firm lacked the necessary business experience and a stable financial position.
The three other bidders were invited to present their proposals at an interview panel, but one withdrew before doing so.
The two remaining interested parties both wanted to use the palace as a wedding venue.
One had experience of leasing and operating pubs and restaurants in Kent, but did not have experience of venues of the size and scale of the palace and had only three years of audited accounts.
The Archbishop’s Palace is to become a wedding venue
The Warham Room inside the Archbishop’s Palace
The other already ran a dedicated wedding venue in a Grade II listed castle, hosting 400 events a year. The council has chosen the latter.
It is understood public access to the palace grounds will remain and the operator has also promised to hold open days so the public can continue to see inside the building.
The tenant will pay the council rent of £120,000 a year.
It is expected that drawing up the necessary plans and obtaining planning permission will take at least six months, before any actual building work begins.
Cllr Clive English (Lib Dem) advised cabinet members that they really had no alternative but to accept the offer.
He said: “The only alternative would be to go out to tendering all over again, and there is no reason to suppose the outcome would be any different.”
He said the new use would at least preserve the building which was “one of the landscape gems of Maidstone”.