Plans to turn a hotel at How Caple, near Ross-on-Wye, into a school boarding house have been lodged with Herefordshire Council.

How Caple Grange Hotel is situated on the B4224, with the site straddling the parish boundaries of How Caple and Sollers Hope in the Wye Valley.

The application is for a change of use from a hotel into a boarding house for Hereford Cathedral School.

The existing site was once part of the How Caple Manor Estate. The existing hotel building has been developed over a considerable length of time. The original part of the building dates back to 1720, with large extensions added in the 1850s and 1970s.

The property is mainly two storey, with external walls in stone under pitched tiled roofs. The proposal does not seek to make any major alterations to the exterior of the property. Instead the interior will be converted into accommodation for pupils, a nurse’s bedroom, houseparent accommodation, a house tutor’s flat and an overnight staff room.

The ground floor will be used for the pupils’ shared spaces, which will include a common room and dining hall. A kitchen and laundry will also be located on the ground floor. On the upper floors some of the existing hotel bedrooms will be converted into student bedrooms and accommodation for staff.

A decision is expected by the end of January 2017.